


Gargoyle

by Yuzukookies



Category: 15& (Band), 2PM (Band), Day6 (Band), GOT7, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Anxiety Disorder, Attempt at Dark Themes, BTS is Mean at First, Blood and Violence, But I hope you enjoy, Domestic Violence, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fantasy Creatures, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Original Fantasy Creatures, Park Jinyoung (GOT7) is Main Character's Brother, Unhealthy Relationships, Werewolves, Witches, sorry - Freeform, this might be weird
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 57,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27371956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuzukookies/pseuds/Yuzukookies
Summary: "A fallen Angel always wants his wings back."As a tattoo artist in Seoul, Sooyun thought she had seen everything, but a certain gang intercepts her life and opens her up to a world she thought impossible.After escaping their abusive father, Jinyoung and Sooyun make a life for themselves in the seedy part of Seoul with Jinyoung's old friends. Unwanted visitors disrupt their plans for a peaceful life and Sooyun is taken captive, but why? Her seven captors are mysterious and dangerous, but are they as bad as they seem? What is everyone hiding from Sooyun?Again, I SUCK at summaries.I hope you have fun reading <(_ _)>
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Original Female Character(s), Kim Taehyung | V/Original Female Character(s), Kim Taehyung | V/Reader, Kim Yugyeom/Original Female Character(s), Kim Yugyeom/Reader, Park Jimin (15&)/Im Jaebum | JB, Park Jimin (15&)/Park Jimin (BTS)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yaaaaay! I'm back after what feels like FOREVER!! This story may be a little off-the-rails, but I love writing it :)
> 
> Constructive criticism is welcome! Please enjoy! <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the parlor is based on the place where I personally go for tattoos, and I'm not an expert on the process or inner-workings of a tattoo-parlor. I hope it's not too far-fetched, haha!

Cold rain drizzled atop Sooyun’s head, the scent of a fresh pour mingling with the morning dew. Regrettably, this street had a mixture of different, urban smells that overpowered nature’s sweet aroma, such as tar, cigarettes, and whatever leaked from the broken beer bottle someone had smashed against the curb. The few blocks were crowded with unlit neon signs and small shops that had built their storefronts much too close to the narrow road cutting through.

Hands in the pockets of her raincoat, Sooyun made her way down the uneven sidewalk with dragging feet. She lifted her face just the slightest bit to read the signs jutting out above her head, no longer lit with neon and screaming for attention. Now they only seemed to darken the way, partnered with the thick rainclouds that loomed over the city. She squinted to see the smaller signs posted at each corner, looking for her turn and trying not to be distracted by the posters announcing ramyeon housed and less-than-savory boutiques. No matter how many months had passed, she still found herself lost here on more than a few occasions.

The shop where she worked stood between a run-down bar and a thrift store, looking quite bright in this darker, seedy side of Seoul. Despite its location, Def Soul had a great reputation. It also had the best upkeep on the small street, with clear windows free of smudges, looking like crystal beside the foggy green windows of the stored on either side. The shop’s sign was just a small black square with blocky white letters, as to avoid drawing too much attention.

Sooyun still felt uneasy in this part of town; just the idea of her, a pure skinned, sheltered girl working at an illegal tattoo parlor in such a place was almost laughable!

Jaebum, the owner, had not been keen on the idea of hiring her, but complied after her friend Jackson’s incessant prodding. It wasn’t even Sooyun’s choice, purely an idea from an overexcited Jackson, but she needed the money to support her and her brother now that they were on their own. Plus, Jaebum know their circumstances already and promised not to let Jinyoung know she was working there, this was the best she could do.

She smiled to herself, remembering how nervous she felt, standing outside the shop for the first time only six months ago. She was too afraid to open the door, shifting from foot to foot and debating whether to turn back.

She had peered into one of the windows on the storefront. Inside, two people were milling about the lobby. Jamie – whom Sooyun had met before – sat behind a computer desk, chatting with the tall, lanky boy leaning over the countertop. He was also decorated with tattoos, piercings, and dyed hair like Jamie, his mop colored a dusty blonde. Sooyun twirled her dark, virgin hair nervously around her fingers, wondering how she could possibly fit in here.

For a brief moment, she considered turning back. Neither had seen her standing outside, so it would be easy to slip away unnoticed. She could tell Jaebum that Jinyoung found out, and the shop could quickly move on and find someone who would better fit the bill for their customers. But, she wouldn’t find a better job than this; a place filled with people she knew and somewhere her father would never even think to search for her.

Before she could make up her mind, Jamie’s head turned her way, blue eyes meeting Sooyun’s. They widened with a glint of excitement and she pointed out the window, drawing the boy’s attention. He looked over as well, raising his eyebrows.

Sooyun’s heart leaped up and lodged itself in her throat as she watched him move. She didn’t even have any time to run, since it only took his long legs about four steps to reach the door. He threw it open with a wide-eyed look and leaned outside, holding tight to the handle. Even though they were wide, his eyes still looked small behind the large, round glasses perched on his nose. He almost reminded her of an animated character from a movie she had seen years before.

Up close, she could better see the piercings in his ears, lip, and nostril more clearly. The nose ring looked slightly irritated, so Sooyun wondered if it was still fresh.

“Wassup?” the man casually asked.

Sooyun blinked like a confused owl at his melodious voice. “I – Hi?”

He cocked his head, small mouth pursing. “Are you the new hire?”

Regaining a bit of her composure, Sooyun nodded slowly.

He straightened his slouched back and leaned against the doorframe. “Alright,” he smiled from the side of his mouth. “Lezz get it.” He motioned with a jerk of his head for her to enter the shop and escape the rain. Sooyun followed closely as he led her inside.

And that was how her new career began. She sat behind the desk for the first month, signing in customers and filling out paperwork, but soon she was promoted to Jaebum’s apprentice. Now, she was working as an artist underneath his skilled teachings and loved every second of it. What started out as a spur-of-the-moment decision to apply turned into a career she could be proud of.

Inside, the shop smelled like lavender and strong cleaning products, and Sooyun wrinkled her nose, still not a fan of the conflicting scents. The floor was tiled with lark black squares that matched well with the crimson walls. Framed drawing, samples of tattoos, and posters covered the blood-red walls, Twice’s bright and bubbly concept looking out of place in the edgy shop. In the left corner was an old computer monitor that sat behind a cluttered desk and a section of protruding wall. And in the right was a large, leather sectional couch. An obsidian door led out of the lobby with a placard that read: _“Beware of Dog”_. That was where the artists did their work.

Jamie was still relaxing behind the desk, lazily looking through a packet of papers. She gave Sooyun a bright smile and waggled her fingers. “Hi, there, Sooyun.”

Sooyun was about to respond, but Jamie suddenly spoke again. “Jae, stop tugging at it!”

Jae, the tall boy who had first greeted Sooyun groaned, tearing his fingers away from his new nose ring. “But it itches!”

“I told you not to touch it!” she huffed, slipping into a comical satoori. “You’re just going to make it worse.”

Jae rolled his eyes. “I didn’t even want this thing in the first place.”

“I don’t care. We need to test out the new antiseptic JB ordered.”

“Couldn’t you have done it yourself?”

“Already got one,” she pointed at the silver stud in her own nose.

Jae frowned. “Then, just get another one!”

“I’m too pretty to risk getting an infection on my face,” she said, sticking out her tongue at him.

Sooyun smiled fondly as she unlocked the door to the backrooms with the key she kept hooked on a line at her hip. Arguments like this were commonplace, especially between the two in charge of piercings. Putting them together meant something was going to get broken, or emotions would explode, and it was always entertaining.

Beyond the one large door was a hallway, three doors on each side. It was lit by red lightbulbs along the ceiling that blended with the walls, giving a pretty ominous feel to the hall. These offices were used in order to keep the tattooing process private from people looking in from the streets. If someone were to spot a session going on and report it, the shop would be under investigation and risk being shut down.

The first door on the left was the employee break room, where they would clock in, store their personal items, and have lunch together when their schedules allowed. She pushed the door open and was surprised to see no one sitting at the folding table set up in the middle. Odd. Usually at least one person was always shirking off their work in here. Shrugging, she used her punch card to clock into her shift and hung her raincoat on the rack by the door. In the small screen of the CCTV monitor, she could see Jamie and Jae still annoying each other. Her office remained empty, as did Jamie’s. JB was with a customer, focusing on the geometric shapes he was currently inking into the man’s shoulder.

Sooyun had met Jaebum back when he and Jinyoung were roommates in college. He was incredibly intimidating, with his eyebrow piercings and sleeve tattoos. When he went to shake her hand, the ink and thick, silver rings decorating his knuckles gave her pause. The siblings had grown up in a part of society where tattoos and excessive piercings were still taboo and considered exclusive for gang members and hooligans, so she was very unaccustomed to seeing anyone like him up close. She only stopped staring when Jinyoung slapped the back of her head and Jaebum laughed when she apologized with a right red face.

On the camera in the corner, she noticed BamBam was in his office too. Since she had no appointments yet, she hurried over to his door, which was already slightly ajar. She only knocked on it once before throwing it all the way open. The space inside was small, painted a pretty, dark grey color with gold accents and a very bright light flooding the room. The walls were decorated with posters for popular bands and snapshots of finished tattoos. There was a desk in the corner that was buried under piles of papers and other tools and trinkets. A leopard-print couch sat beside it with a man’s leather jacket draped over the arm.

In the center of the room was a large black chair was laid flat, meant for the customers to relax in while receiving their tattoos or piercings and in it sat a half-naked Yugyeom.

BamBam sat beside him with a tattoo gun in his gloved hand and was shoving his friend with the other. His loud red shirt hung loosely off his thin, toned body, and his black jeans hugged his legs so tight that she couldn’t believe he could bend them enough to sit down. His bleached white hair was cut short, completely showing off his warm face.

“Why, hello there,” BamBam greeted her, ever cheeky.

“Hey,” she returned with a smile and plopped down on his terrible sofa. “Another one, Yugyeom?”

The pale boy in the chair shrugged. “They’re free.”

“Just because they are, doesn’t mean you should keep inking yourself until you look like you belong in a freak show,” she clicked her tongue.

He rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the advice, Miss Pure Skinned Angel.”

“I’m working up the courage for one,” she tilted her head and winced. “It just looks so painful.”

“Plus, your brother would kill you and then all of us,” BamBam interjected with a shudder. 

“Oi,” Jae appeared in the doorway. “Bam, clean up your office; your 2:30’s here. Yugyeom, you need to scoot or hide or at least put a shirt on.” Without so much as waiting for a nod, he vanished again into the hallway. Yugyeom stood to grab a black and yellow checkered shirt that was lying crumpled on the couch and slipped it over his head. The oversized shirt only made him look taller and broader than he already was.

BamBam groaned, shocked. “Wait until I put a cover on it! You know better than that, Gyeom!”

With a soft blush, Yugyeom lifted his shirt back up, and Sooyun looked over the fresh tattoo on the side of his ribs. It was a beautiful, geometric dandelion – cute. Her eyes flitted over his other ink, and it wasn’t the first time she had noticed most of them were covering up deep scars, some still a little red. She wondered if he was in a gang or something dangerous like that, but she didn’t want to pry into his personal business.

BamBam cleared his throat. Sooyun’s head snapped to face him and she didn’t appreciate the smirk on his plump lips. He had finished dressing the tattoo and was now wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Shut up,” she hissed before following Yugyeom out of the office to the front lobby, passing Jae walking with BamBam’s customer.

Up front, Jamie asked if Sooyun would watch the front desk while she went for lunch. Honestly, she was happy to do it. She enjoyed working on their Jurassic-era computer, despite all the weird little noises it made. Jamie and Jae were thorough in explaining what they all meant: Loud groaning if it had to be unplugged and plugged back in, a humming if it was overheating and she had to turn on a small fan to cool it off, and an annoying grinding if it was being a bitch and needed for time to itself (which meant “turn it off” in Jamie’s vernacular).

“I don’t get how you can get any work done on that thing,” Yugyeom grumbled from his perch on the front counter. “It’s basically a dinosaur.”

Sooyun smiled, typing in her long passcode. “Sometimes vintage things are nice – mom jeans, vinyl disks, Monty Python – and it’s much easier to use than most Apple computers.”

She learned pretty quickly that Yugyeom, although not technically employed by the store, did a lot for the upkeep. He cleaned the lobby and the offices, washed and disinfected tools, and helped deal with the drunks that would occasionally wander in during the night. The two of them liked to chat whenever he was working up there on his own and learned that their personalities meshed well. Although he was roommates with Jackson, and two more of Jinyoung’s college friends, Mark and Youngjae, she had never met him until JB hired her. He said he only came along a few months prior to her hiring at the shop, so it made sense they hadn’t crossed paths. Still, she found it a bit odd she had never even heard his name mentioned.

Eh, maybe boys just didn’t care enough to talk about each other. Who knows?

When the bell by the door clanged to indicate a customer, she looked up from the screen. The woman who walking in was very pretty, wearing a blue dress and with long, dark hair. A few tattoos were spread along her collarbone and shoulders and seemed to cascade down her back from the way they vanished into her dress. 

“Noona!” Yugyeom greeted her brightly. “Here to see Jaebum-hyung?”

She nodded and walked up to the desk, giving Sooyun and pretty grin. “I’m Bae Joohyun,” she said. “I have an appointment with Jaebum.”

“Of course,” Sooyun quickly brought up her file and checked her in while Yugyeom went to fetch the owner.

The ticking of the clock was the only sound for a few moments while they waited for Jaebum. “Are you a new employee?” the woman asked softly.

Sooyun shrugged. “Kind of. I’ve been here for six months now.”

Bae Joohyun laughed. “Oh, I see. I suppose I haven’t been here for quite a while. I have to say, though, I’m glad that Jaebum finally asked for some more help around here. He’s been running himself into a rut for the past few years, and I’ve been so worried about this place.”

“I’m happy I can be of help to him,” Sooyun smiled genuinely, not her phony “customer service” grin. “He’s a longtime friend of my brother, so it means a lot to me to be able to do this for him.”

“You are so sweet,” she tilted her head and beamed. “They’re lucky you’re here. I swear, after Younghyun disappear–”

Before she could finish her thought, Jaebum opened the obsidian door. He looked a little bleary, like he’d just woken up from a nap. “Hey, Noona,” he greeted, sleepily.

“Hello, Jaebum-ah,” she returned. “How nice you had an opening for me.”

“We always have time for you,” he said and motioned toward the hallway. “Are you ready? Jae’s already prepared everything, so we’re ready for you.”

She nodded and gave Sooyun a small wave before walking back with JB. “It was nice to meet you. Keep up the good work.”

Sooyun thanked her to be polite, but her words had bugged the girl just a bit. “Younghyun”? Who was Younghyun? She had never heard the name before, but it sounded as if Bae Joohyun had expected her to know it. Maybe he had worked there before she had? She would be sure to ask Jamie later.

About five minutes after the two had gone back, she got up to go to the bathroom, leaving Yugyeom in charge. On her way back, she stopped in her tracks when she heard a voice from inside Jaebum’s office. Her curiosity got the best of her and she couldn’t help but listen in.

With her hear pressed to the door, Sooyun held her breath to hear more clearly.

She recognized Joohyun’s voice first. “You know they’re making their way closer each day. And they’re fast. Some have said they’ve already set up a homestead near Seoul.”

Jaebum grunted lowly. “Yeah, I know. I have the pack patrolling their border every night. We’re keeping an eye on them.”

“What will you do if they come here?”

“They won’t, not with my new guard dog.”

Sooyun frowned. She never knew Jaebum was a dog person.

“He’s big,” said Joohyun, sounding a little impressed. “But do you think he can keep a group like them out of here?”

“God forbid, we’ll find out sooner or later. For now, I’m doing my best to protect my own.”

“Smart boy.”

“ _Sooyun-ah!_ ”

The sharp whisper nearly had her jumping out of her skin. She made an awkward noise and turned briskly to see Yugyeom’s head poking out of the lobby door. “ _What?!_ ” she hissed back.

He crooked his finger in a “come hither” motion. Sooyun begrudgingly abandoned her snooping to join him. “I wouldn’t eavesdrop if I were you,” he softly admonished her when she came closer. “If Hyung found out, he’d be pissed.”

She pouted her lips and sighed. Yeah, she supposed he would be. Staying there and listening in was a bad idea, so she went back out to the lobby, curiosity still lingering in her mind.

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

The elevator to Sooyun’s crummy apartment had been broken since they moved in, only able to take the residents halfway up their building and forcing her to climb the last five flights no matter how exhausted she was. The old, rickety steps were loud enough for the entire complex to hear on a quiet night, so Sooyun had to be as surefooted as a mountain goat when she came home.

She and her brother lived in the rooftop apartment of a run-down complex far from the heart of Seoul, but close enough to still see the colorful city in the distance. The storage attic/turned two-bedroom apartment was tiny and dingy, perfectly situated above a crotchety old woman who had threatened to slug Sooyun with her heavy handbag if they didn’t “keep it down” – as if the siblings were loud enough for anyone to hear through the thick concrete roof. It was the best they could afford on their slim budget.

Two young adults living on their own weren’t trusted near the nicer parts of the city, and on Jinyoung’s humble wages, they could barely afford a place with a working water heater. Jinyoung had tried his hardest to move somewhere homier or at least in a better area, but alas, they weren’t so lucky. Although it was nowhere close to the tattoo parlor, the two were still in a not-so-nice part of town, so Sooyun clutched a keychain can of pepper-spray in her hand as she waddled sleepily up the steps. Jackson had given it to her the first time she was followed home – an unfortunately common occurrence in her neighborhood.

Luckily, there was no one behind her tonight, so she didn’t have to run up the stairs and wake up the whole building. Instead, she calmly turned the key and pushed open her creaky apartment door. “Oppa, I’m home,” she whisper-shouted as she slipped off her heavy boots and set them by the entrance.

Jinyoung stood in the kitchen, his thick eyebrows drawn. “You’re home late.”

“Sorry, the café was super busy, and I couldn’t leave until my tables did.”

Yes, Sooyun was lying to her brother, but he would never allow her to work at the parlor if he knew, even if it was Jaebum’s shop. For all he knew, she was a barista in a 24-hour café somewhere in Mapo-gu; he didn’t need to know where exactly.

“Well, dinner’s cold, but you can warm it up after you shower. I’m going to bed,” he grabbed a glass of water and took a long drink. He shuffled out in his pajamas, glass in hand, and wobbled to his room with a yawn. “Try not to make too much noise; I’m working back-to-back shifts tomorrow.”

Sooyun frowned. “You just did a twelve-hour shift today. Can’t Mark work the bar?”

“He would,” Jinyoung nodded sleepily. “But he has to leave tomorrow to see his parents. The new guy was scheduled, but he’s been down with a cold and I would rather get some extra pay than make a customer sick.”

“You’re the one who’s going to get sick,” she sighed. “Stop pushing yourself so hard.”

He gave her an annoyed look. “If I do that, then we’ll be kicked out of the worst apartments in Seoul. My dignity won’t allow it.”

“It’s not ‘dignity’, it’s your stubborn pride,” she rolled her eyes. “Why don’t I pick up some extra shifts so you can take a break and _not_ run yourself into the ground?”

“Not going to happen,” he shook his head, dismissively waving his hand in the air. “You don’t need to do that. I’m your big brother, so I’m taking care of you, okay? Just take a shower and eat something. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Will you be home for dinner?” she asked with hope in her voice. Supper with Jinyoung was so rare, and she would gladly take her shift off tomorrow if he said yes. She may have been a surly brat, but she loved her brother more than anything.

His flippant expression changed into something a little fonder. “I’m sorry, Sooyun-ah, but I won’t be home until eight.”

“I don’t mind,” she pushed. “I can meet you on my break – I can move it to eight or later if you want.”

“Don’t do that,” he said, walking up to her and placing his hand atop her head. “And don’t worry about me. I’ll eat, I promise. Now, you need to do the same. Good night.” After ruffling her hair, he slunk back to his small bedroom.

“Don’t you dare take any overtime tomorrow, okay?”

He chuckled lightly. “No promises.”

Sighing, Sooyun watched him drag his feet behind him as he walked. Despite his refusal, she knew he was exhausted. He was _always_ exhausted. Ever since they left their father’s home, he’d been working himself to the bone trying to build his sister a stable life. His work ethic was venerable and the determination he showed to support both himself and Sooyun was something she admired, but she also constantly worried about him. He hardly every gave himself a break and she could see it taking its toll on him.

But he was stubborn, just like his father, and just like Sooyun, and he refused to let her work instead of him. He was still apprehensive about her working at this “café”. He huffed and puffed when she told him about the job and even tried to persuade her to quit, but he wasn’t the only one who took after their father. Once she had placated him by promising she’d carry the pepper-spray and take self-defense lessons from Jackson, he agreed to finally shut up about it.

She took a quick shower to wash off the grime of the day and went to bed without dinner, too lazy to even work the microwave. Whilst she snuggled beneath her covers, she played a few mind-numbing games on her phone like every other person in the world and smiled when a text from BamBam appeared at the top of her screen.

_**/12:33 AM/ DoubleB: A, video games @ Gyeom’s. U in?** _

Screw sleep. That sounded like fun.

_**/12:33 AM/ Baby Sis💕: Snacks?** _

_**/12:34 AM/ DoubleB: duh** _

_**Gyeomie ~🌼 has joined the chat.** _

_**/12:35 AM/ Gyeomie ~🌼: Are you coming or not?** _

_**/12:36 AM/ Baby Sis💕: Yeah, but I have to sneak past Jinyoung first. Give me twenty** _

_**/12:37 AM/ Gyeomie ~🌼: Well hurry up!!** _

_**/12:37 AM/ DoubleB: WE R BEING DESTROYED!!!!!** _

_**/12:37 AM/ Gyeomie ~🌼: You and Chrom and the only ones who can beat Mark at Super Smash!!** _

She chuckled to herself as she pulled on some more suitable sweatpants and a red hoodie.

_**/12:40 AM/ Baby Sis💕: Hold your ground, men. King Chrom is on his way!** _

_**/12:41 AM/ Gyeomie ~🌼: 🙏!!!** _

_**/12:41 AM/ DoubleB: Ugh, y am I friends with u?** _

_**/12:43 AM/ Baby Sis💕: Cuz you loooove us** _

_**/12:43 AM/ Baby Sis💕: And no one else can stand you** _

_**/12:44 AM/ Gyeomie ~🌼: Ha!** _

Sooyun applauded herself when she made it out of the apartment without waking her brother. He slept like a rock, so it wasn’t that hard, but that didn’t stop her heart from beating faster. The hard part now was making it down the squeaky stairs, and she was sweating by the time she reached the bottom. Yugyeom’s shared apartment was only a few bus stops away, and she was there before she knew it.

As she traipsed up the sidewalk to their building, she heard something odd for 1 AM. There were footsteps. Curious, she sharply turned and scanned the sidewalk on either side, but there was no one around. Maybe she was hearing things – it wouldn’t be the first time. She shrugged and kept walking.

But she heard it again. Great. Someone really _was_ following her.

Again, she stopped and spun around. There was still no one else that she could see, and that didn’t sit well in her stomach. The area wasn’t known for a high crime rate and she had never been tailed so late into the night before, but she knew that didn’t mean she was safe. There was definitely someone close behind had she had to find options to escape.

Only a few meters to the building’s front door. The footsteps grew louder and quicker. They were running now.

Lunging, Sooyun grabbed the handle, yanked the heavy door open with all her might, and hightailed it inside. Once the door had shut, there were no further footsteps, but she didn’t slow down as she bolted up the stairs. On the fourth floor, she ran down the hall to the boy’s room and threw herself against the door.

She heard a startled shout from the other side – Youngjae – before the door opened.

“Sooyun-ah ~” Jackson cheered. She managed a small smile before brushing past him and into the apartment. BamBam and Mark were playing their game while the others watched from the too-small sofa, and Jackson had a bowl of popcorn in his hand. Ever perceptive, he noticed she was struggling to catch her breath and frowned. “Hey, you okay?”

Those who weren’t playing looked over at them. Yugyeom frowned, concerned. “What happened?”

Sooyun shook her head and took another deep breath. _Damn stairs. I hate stairs._ “I – There was –” she greedily pulled in more air. “Thought I heard someone following me.”

Youngjae snickered. “Scaredy cat.”

“Guess I’m the kettle.”

“Did you see anyone following you?” Jackson asked, his brow deeply furrowed.

‘No,” she said. “I didn’t see anyone, but it sounded like footsteps. I’m fine, though; no damage done.”

Jackson shook his head. “I don’t like how quickly you’ve gotten used to things like this.”

She shrugged off his reply and scuttled over to the couch to take the seat between Yugyeom and the arm of the sofa. He hooked an arm around the top of the couch to make more room. Jackson placed the popcorn in her lap and sat down with his back against Yugyeom’s long legs. On the tv, BamBam was losing pathetically to Mark, who had driven him to his last life without even surpassing 52% damage himself. The man was a Super Smash Bros. savant.

“Who’s playing next?” Sooyun asked.

“I am, but you can take it,” Youngjae chimed. “I’d rather see Hyung get his butt kicked.”

“Not gonna happen,” Mark shot absentmindedly over his shoulder.

Jackson scoffed. “Don’t get cocky; you’ve lost to her before.”

“Yeah, but that was just luck. Won’t happen again.”

BamBam let out a cry of defeat when his character fell off the edge of the board for the third and final time. He threw the controller over his shoulder and pouted like a child. “I’m done. Avenge me, Sooyun.”

Jackson passed the device up to her from the floor and she took it with a sigh. “I call Chrom.”

“You’re always Chrom,” Mark rolled his eyes.

“Because he’s the best.”

“You only think so because you ended up married to him in that DS game by accident.”

“It’s called _fate_.”

He frowned. “Pick someone you haven’t played a hundred times.”

“Only if you play as Jiggly Puff.”

“Fine,” he rolled his eyes. “At least I’ll get some satisfaction by killing your husband.”

To everyone’s surprise, she ended up winning. No one was sure how she did it, but she did – and with an epic ending pose, no less – and the boys were over the moon. She was certain there would be popcorn in the couch cushions for months with Jackson throwing it around like confetti while singing “We Are the Champions”. After a few loud bangs from the neighbors, they all quieted down, the youngsters now content with Mark defeated and the eldest sulking from said defeat.

About ten minutes and three more rounds passed, and Sooyun’s victory suddenly felt underwhelming now that she was facing off against the boys she could beat on any given day. Eventually, Mark’s turn came around again, but she didn’t want to taint her victory by losing, so she chose not to continue fighting, instead lying back in the sofa and resting her tired head on the cushions.

“You didn’t have to come if you’re so sleepy,” Yugyeom nudged her with his elbow. He had just lost to BamBam and came to pout with her and ignore the other singing his own praises – well, wailing his praises off-key was more accurate.

“I’m not tired,” she groaned. “I’m just worried and frustrated. Jinyoung’s been working himself to death and I can’t stand it.”

Mark sighed and ran his fingers through his dark hair. “I’m sorry. I would have taken the shift tomorrow, but my parents need me home. I had no idea Minhyuk was sick.”

“No, it’s not your fault,” she shook her head. “You two are the only competent employees, so I don’t blame you. I just wish he had the sense to tell his bossed ‘no’ for once. He’s working his shifts back-to-back tomorrow, and he already looks like he’s losing weight.”

“You know it’s all for your sake, right?” Jackson asked with a serious look. He always made sure that she understood how much Jinyoung did for her. She didn’t like that – he shouldn’t have to take care of her as well as himself. “He’s a good brother.”

“I know he’s a good brother,” she rolled her eyes. “But can’t I still be worried about him?”

“You can,” Mark interjected. “But you still need to be understanding as well. He had to as back as you did back with your dad.”

She frowned deep. When Jinyoung was in university, he had been roommates with Jackson, Mark, and Jaebum at some point, and he had told them everything. He’d left out no details about their upbringing and the rough life they had run away from. Sooyun didn’t like talking or thinking about it, but she was constantly reminded of everything when Jinyoung would come home with deep circles beneath his eyes and trudging his feet around the apartment like a zombie. She would remember the way he used to hide his limp and black eyes from her, brushing them off by saying he fell, but how many times could someone trip so badly they could hardly see out of one eye? Now, he worked himself to the bone, disregarding his health and happiness because of their poor excuse for a father couldn’t be bothered. He was doing this for Sooyun because they only had each other.

They both had so much more now that they were surrounded by friends, but he still refused to slow down. That’s why Sooyun took the job, so he could finally take a break and take care of himself.

The scars on Sooyun’s stomach throbbed harder the more she thought of her father. They burned as if they were fresh.

Desperate to end the conversation, she nodded. “I know he did. I just hope I can earn enough soon so that he won’t be so worn out anymore.”

“Once your apprenticeship is over, you’re bound to make much better tips and hours,” Bam Bam interjected. Youngjae had beat him in the final match, so he was giving up while he was behind, instead deciding to butt in on their conversation. “After I started on my own, I made _way_ more than I was when I was under Jaebum.”

“Yeah, I guess there’s only a few more months until I’m done,” she shrugged. 

Yugyeom grinned and nodded. “Exactly, then I’ll start scheduling my appointments with you instead of Bam.”

Said man frowned. “Hey, don’t steal my clients, Sooyun-ah!” he scolded. She giggled.

“Well, I have work pretty early, so I’m off to bed,” Youngjae said and pushed himself off the ground with a groan. “You can all keep playing, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They all wished him goodnight as he toddled to his room. Mark soon followed since he had to leave for his parents’ house relatively early in the morning. Only Jackson, BamBam, Yugyeom and Sooyun were left in the living room, but they were tired of video games for the night. BamBam was dead asleep on the floor and Sooyun was close to dozing off on the couch, still leaning against Yugyeom. She was in that limbo between dreaming and lucidity, so even though she felt like she was asleep, she could still hear what the two men were saying on either side of her.

“Have you heard anything about … you know?” Yugyeom asked in a soft whisper.

Jackson grunted affirmatively. “Yeah, I got a call from Hyung earlier today; said they’ve apparently settled here for good, but no one really knows where.”

“What does that mean?”

“Means they’ve found something in Seoul, and they’re going to do anything to get it,” Jackson’s voice was suddenly much darker.

“What are we going to do?” Yugyeom’s voice was just as low and serious.

“We’re going to protect the territory. If they try to muscle their way in, we do whatever it takes to force them back out. Why do you think Jaebum lets you hang around without actually doing anything?”

“Hey, I work.”

“Yeah, but just so their dishwasher doesn’t have to.”

“Harsh.”

“Anyway, we’re riding this one out as long as we can. Even if they show up, we don’t do anything rash unless they start it first. If they don’t bother us, then we don’t bother them either. We don’t want any unnecessary conflict.”

There was a brief silence, after which the boys sighed.

“You should get to bed, Gyeom,” Jackson finally said.

“Nah,” the younger protested. “I’ll sleep here. I don’t want to wake her.”

“Alright,” the elder’s voice was soft once more, fond. “Keep your nose in the air.”

“Yeah, I will. Sleep well, Hyung.”

Sooyun wondered if she was really dreaming after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTS makes their first appearance, even though it's a short chapter :) I really hope ya'll are enjoying it, because I really love writing this story!  
> Thanks for reading, loves!! <33

A bright ray of sunlight laid itself across Sooyun’s face. She squirmed and whined, not ready to wake up so early or deal with her sore neck. Working herself into a more comfortable position, she accidentally pressed herself up against someone else on the couch.

Yugyeom made a garbled noise of surprise and knit his eyebrows as he tried to fall back asleep. While he nuzzled into the cushions, Sooyun moved herself away, slowly blinking awake.

“Ugh ~” he groaned, lips pouting slightly. “Stop, Sooyun-ah~”

She knuckled her bleary eyes then glanced at the clock on the wall. To her surprise, it was already 1:43 PM. “It’s late, Gyeom. I have to go home.”

He grumbled and stretched, his stupidly long legs kicking Sooyun as he did. She heard him call the sun a rude name under his breath as he blindly groped for something to cuddle, deciding on her arm.

“No, let go,” she struggled against him. “I have to go get dressed for work.”

“Just wear what you have on – you look fine.”

“I look like I’ve given up on life.”

“It’s not like Hyung has a dress-code,” he mumbled.

Rolling her eyes, she shoved him off and stood, brushing the popcorn crumbs from her sweatpants. She yawned loudly while she glanced around the empty apartment. There wasn’t a single sign of life besides the two of them. “Where’s Jackson?”

“Probably out with friends. They’ll sometimes call him out early in the morning,” he answered, then leaned back and shut his eyes again as if he hadn’t been awake at all. His slumbering face was so peaceful that it almost made Sooyun laugh; he was so loud and chaotic when he was awake, but so angelically peaceful when asleep. The gap was pretty amusing.

She left without bothering to be quiet and trusting Yugyeom to lock the door whenever he woke up again. It was a nice afternoon – blue sky and nice, puffy clouds floating across the pleasant atmosphere. They looked like cotton candy in a sea of purest blue.

Sheesh! Why was she so poetic this morning?

When she got off the bus at her stop, crowds of people were sitting outside, still enjoying lunch at street vendors’ carts or corner bars. There was a bar on her route run by a balding man whose dog would happily thump his tail against the ground whenever he saw her coming. She loved that old dog.

She ran up the steps to the roof, two at a time, not having to be quiet so late in the day. Squeaks and groans echoed in the old stairwell, a very common noise in the building, but one that never failed to aggravate the _friendly_ neighborhood nag. And how luck Sooyun was that Miss Soo was standing by the door to the rooftop, waiting for the girl with a pinched scow and a complaint on the tip of her tongue.

On the inside, Sooyun wanted to moan and groan, but she forced a fake smile. “Good morning, Miss Soo,” she said, hoping the words sounded genuine enough for the woman to let her pass.

She squinted at the younger – her lazy eye was staring somewhere behind her, but Sooyun knew it would have been on her if it could – and she noticed the way Miss Soo’s chest puffed up with all the breath she could muster. She was in for it today.

“Young lady, are you aware how late you were out last night? I can accept you leaving at sunup, but to be out and making all that racket even at three o’clock in the morning? That is simply unforgivable! I spoke with your brother on his way to work, but he tried to tell me that neither of you were even awake that early. Now, I may be an old woman, but even I can distinguish between my own imagination and footsteps pounding above my head. This is a communal building, one where we must respect each and every resident, and yet the two of you are running about at all hours of the night and disturbing the peace – I have half a mind to report you to the building manager!”

Sooyun was sure she still had much more ranting to do, but she was too focused on what she said first; neither sibling would have been out so early. Jinyoung didn’t have to wake up until six, and she was already at the boys’ apartment by three o’clock. There shouldn’t have been anyone walking around her home at that hour … and if Miss Soo were telling the truth, then it was definitely someone who should never have been there in the first place.

Her heart pounded in her chest, panicked. Had someone tried to break into her apartment? Were they casing it? Did they find a way inside? Or was Miss Soo just hearing things again?

“Are you still listening to me?” shrilled the old woman.

No. Sooyun blinked twice before muttering a hurried apology and barreling past Miss Soo and onto the roof. The old lady called after her, but Sooyun slammed the door shut right in her sour face.

The tightness in her chest grew as she scanned the balcony. Nothing seemed out of place – the laundry was on the line, none of the plants had been disturbed, nothing. But there could still be something askew inside, assuming the intruder broke in. She had half a mind to call Jackson and ask him to come and check the apartment first, but quickly decided against it. If it really was nothing, then she’d look like a fool for raising alarm like that.

When she walked through the front door, she took a quick look around the entrance and adjacent kitchen, pepper-spray in hand. Their shoes were in place on the rack, no chairs misplaced, and the dishes were still in the sink, unwashed. So far, so good.

Then, a thought struck her.

_Did Appa find us?_

Covering her horrified gasp, Sooyun pressed herself against the closed door. Her breathing grew ragged and rough, imagining her father racing around the corner with a bottle in hand, just like three years ago. Her hands trembled, but she somehow managed to catch herself before she fell into a panicked spiral over what was possibly nothing. Jumping to conclusions was never a smart idea.

So, with a deep breath of cleansing air, Sooyun relaxed her tense muscles. If her father had found them, he wouldn’t have left the house untouched like this – he was far too impulsive and bitter for that. Her apartment would be torn to shreds if he had been there. She had nothing to worry about.

Except, you know, the person who actually _was_ creeping around her home.

A sudden shrill ringing made her jump three feet off the ground and nearly chuck her cellphone across the floor. The offending device was only saved by Jinyoung’s face lit up across the screen.

“What is it?” she asked flatly, pressing the phone to her ear with white knuckles.

He chuckled on the other side of the line. “Can I assume you’ve already run into Miss Soo?”

“Yeah, she ambushed me at our front door. That lady needs a hobby,” she huffed.

“Or a husband.”

“You didn’t hear anyone outside last night, did you?”

Jinyoung seemed surprised by her sudden question, as he was silent for a few moments. “Uh, no, I didn’t. But I got an earful from her about it too. I’m not positive she really heard anything, but I thought I’d let you know anyway. That’s why I called, actually. Did you notice anything on your way up?”

“No, nothing.”

“Okay,” he sighed, resigned. “Just … be sure to triple-check the locks at night, all right? What hours are you working today?”

“I go in at four, and I should be back by one.”

He made an uncomfortable noise. “Can’t you come home any earlier than that?”

She shook her head, then remembered that he couldn’t see her through the phone. “I can’t; they need me there tonight. Something went wrong with the online books, so we have to manually input a lot of data tonight, and there’s only a few workers available.”

“Then, I’ll come pick you up, so you won't be walking home on your own – Jackson told me about your little _encounter_ last night, and you’re not allowed to be out alone so late anymore. No arguing. Just give me the name of the shop.”

At first, she wanted to whine about the new rule, but she needed to tackle his last point instead. “Uh, you don’t need to do that, Oppa.”

“Sooyun, I’m worried about your safety – there’s a possible creep watching our house, and someone literally chased you on the streets last night! You’re my sister, and I’m going to protect you.” There was absolutely no room for argument in his voice, but she needed to try or else her lie would be exposed.

“I know that it’s dangerous, but you need your rest,” she tried to reason with him. “I’ll get one of my coworkers to do it, o-or Jackson! He usually gets out of work pretty late.”

He groaned low in his throat. “I’m worried about you, and I sometimes think you like Jackson more than me – let me come get you, please?”

“I don’t like Jackson more than you,” she rolled her eyes with a smile. “He’s just more intimidating than you.”

“Have you even _seen_ my abs lately?”

She sighed dramatically and woodenly responded. “Yes, Oppa, you have great abs. Now, go back to work, and I’ll enlist someone at work to walk me home. I’ll also tell whoever it is about Miss Soo’s phantom intruder and I promise we’ll be extra, _extra_ careful, okay?”

“I don’t like it.”

“Bye, Oppa.”

“Sooy–”

_*Beep*_

She shoved the phone in her pocket and waltzed to her room, ready for a few more precious minutes of sleep before she had to get ready for work. She wasn’t going to work about this anymore until that night.

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

Everyone was exhausted.

Sooyun wasn’t lying when she told Jinyoung she had a lot of work to do, and by closing time, she, Jamie, and Yugyeom were only partway done with their paperwork. BamBam and Jaebum had left work a few minutes before, finished with all their customers and ready for sleep. Neither of them had done any of the front-desk work before, so they would have been useless anyway, and Jae was locked up in his home office, doing what he could to fix the problem online.

The girls were still filling out form after form on their couch, occasionally nursing their cramped wrists while Yugyeom mopped the floor and finished his regular closing duties.

Yawning loudly, Sooyun looked up from her paperwork and to the front door, where the “OPEN” sign was still facing the outside. “Should we flip it?” she asked, lazily pointing at the offending sign.

Jamie looked up too and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so,” she stretched out her arms with a groan. “Gyeom-ah, would you mind?”

He huffed, leaning against his mop. “Okay, fine. Even though you two haven’t moved for the last three hours and probably have the sorest asses in the world, I’ll do it.”

“Shut up and do it,” she laughed. “Your boss commands it.”

“You’re only half my boss,” he said. His fingers only grazed the sign when the glass door suddenly swung open, violently clanging the little bell. The noise made the girls flinch and Yugyeom yelped as the door narrowly missed his face.

“Ugh,” Jamie groaned and turned to face the arriving customers. “So sorry, but we’re clo–” Her blue eyes grew wide and her mouth opened and closed as if she were still talking, but nothing came out. “Wha – You …” she sounded terrified.

In walked a group of young men, tall and imposing without even having to say a word. The aura they projected as they strode inside had Sooyun wanting to shrink away and hide in her office. And judging by the way both coworkers were looking at them, they felt the same way. There was something about these men – something dark.

None of the employees were acknowledged as the three men looked around the parlor, with the fourth hanging back by the door, a black ballcap pulled down over his face. Maybe they were being robbed …

Jamie grabbed Sooyun’s wrist and tugged. Startled, she ripped her eyes from the men and gave the older a confused look, only to be met with a stern glare and a quick shake of her head. Without a word, she dragged Sooyun behind the desk and shoved her into the swivel chair. Sooyun made to protest, but Jamie cut her off with a finger to her lips. She stood to the side, blocking off the entrance to the desk, and Yugyeom snuck across the floor to stand with her.

Sooyun curiously peered at the men from behind the monster of a monitor. The man by the door hadn’t moved a muscle, which was freaky as hell, and the three others were still musing around the lobby, checking out the pictures and tattoo samples that hung on the wall. One of them was flipping through her own portfolio.

At second glance, they didn’t seem as intimidating as before. It must have been her mind simply overreacting and responding to Jamie’s sudden response that made them seem so scary when they walked in. Now, they just looked like normal customers. A few of them had tattoos and dyed hair, leather draped frames, much like the majority of the store’s clientele. What was there to be so nervous about?

Besides the fact that they were drop-dead handsome. There had to be something in the water here …

“This portfolio,” one man abruptly spoke, making Sooyun nearly fall from her chair in surprise. She focused her gaze on him as he approached, and she suddenly wanted nothing more than to run home, because this guy was just as intimidating as he looked at first glance. Something about the man was so effortlessly daunting – his round face and porcelain skin gave him an innocent air, so long as she didn’t look him in the eyes. Small and slanted like a cat, they regarded the world around him with powerful indifference. They moment they settled on her face, Sooyun felt that he was looked straight into her soul and he didn’t give a damn about what he saw.

“It’s yours, yeah?”

She snapped back to attention when he completed his question. She had definitely been staring and, judging by the knowing smirk tugging on the man’s lips, she had been _very_ obvious.

“Y-Yes,” she squeaked her answer just a little too late.

“Oh, the famous Sooyun? One of the taller men spoke this time, the bright, heart-shaped smile on his handsome face not matching his pitch-black hair. He was dressed in a work leather jacket over an obnoxiously colored shirt that still looked like it cost more than she could make in three months. His jeans were torn in so many places that she felt a little guilty for looking at the tan skin underneath. He sauntered up to Sooyun with a confident gait, not losing his smile for a heartbeat, and rested his elbows on the pay counter, supporting his chin atop his interlaced fingers. “You’re cuter than they said you were.”

Now, she was used to customers hitting on her in this line of work – drunks, old men desperately trying to feel young again, tough-talking college boys sent in on a dare, and even women on occasion – but never had such a handsome man called her cute. The way he smiled at her, with his uniformly straight teeth on display, killed her usual retort on her tongue. She couldn’t offend such a sweet-looking man.

That was, until Jamie kicked her in the back of the knee with her unfairly heavy boot, nearly sending Sooyun to the ground. The boys laughed when she gripped the counter for dear life, including the one flirting with her. She sent the older girl a look sharp enough to cut, but Jamie wasn’t in the mood to back down. She glared pointedly at the door as if to say, “Stop ogling and get them out of here!”

Oh! Right! They were closing.

“Um, what can you do for – I mean: What can I do for you?” she tripped over her words, but it was much too late for dignity.

“You’re making her nervous, Hobi,” the last man now stepped forward and Sooyun reasoned that she had to be in the center of some reality show, because there was no possible way that this man was anything but an actor, or a model, or an angel!

He walked with legs so long that he could probably fall at the doorway and his head would be in the hallway. He had shoulders broad as mountains, which she never thought could be so attractive until now. Soft, brown hair framed his dishonorably handsome face, displaying his forehead and sharp eyes. His lips were plumped into a seemingly permanent smirk. Now, Sooyun was not usually impulsive, and she had never been one to give into a feeling like this, but it was taking all her willpower not to reach over the counter and touch those impossibly pillowy lips. He smiled, the corners of his mouth dimpling cutely. He also muscled “Hobi” out of the way, for which she was grateful.

The man she decided to call Adonis for obvious reasons had a warm grin that put her at ease. He was dressed more formally than his companions, a silk button-down shirt and a coat made of the finest, shiniest leather. His princely countenance even made the tattoo on his neck seem regal.

Why were all the men around her so damn handsome?! It just wasn’t fair!

“I apologize for Hoseok; he likes to flirt with every pretty girl he meets,” he explained, all while wearing that charming grin.

By now, Sooyun was extremely confused. From the way Jamie had reacted to the men’s sudden arrival, Sooyun expected them to smell her fear and threaten to eat her with some fava beans and chianti. Apart from the shorter man’s piercing glare, they seemed to be completely normal customers. In fact, they acted perfectly friendly. Why was Jamie so afraid?

“We just wanted to speak about scheduling some appointments with you, Sooyun-ssi,” Adonis continued.

“Me?” she frowned, intrigued why they would ask for her of all the artists.

He nodded, while the first man scrolled lazily through his cellphone. When he found what he was looking for, he turned the screen to Sooyun. It was a picture of a tattoo she had done weeks before on Bae Joohyun’s thigh: A scene of cherry blossom petals scattered in a reflective pool of water. It had taken a few sessions to complete, and Sooyun was extremely proud of it. She wondered how they had acquired the picture.

“You did this,” he said bluntly. She slowly nodded, which seemed to please them. “Good, then we came to the right place.”

Jamie stepped in with a blatant lie. “Unfortunately, Sooyun-ah is still a beginner and isn’t really comfortable working on her own quite yet. If you’d like, I can schedule you all for appointments with our boss – he’s been in the business for years now and is an expert at what he does. He will not disappoint, I promise.” The way she finished almost sounded threatening, with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Hoseok’s bright smile twisted down into a contemplative frown. He tapped one of his elegant fingers against his chin like he was thinking hard. “Hmm ~ we’ll think about it, but we all love Sooyun’s style.”

“Yeah,” she shorter man agreed. “No offense, but your boss needs a lot more practice before he can be considered an ‘expert’.”

Sooyun frowned deeply at that jab. How could anyone insult Jaebum’s work like that? He was he best artist in the entire city! No one could surpass him, and she didn’t appreciate the shade this man dared to throw at him. Jamie wasn’t any more forgiving. It was well known how much she admired Jaebum and how furious she got whenever someone insulted him. Heck, Sooyun had seen her deck a legitimate bodybuilder when he refused to pay for Jaebum’s services.

Her eyes would be spitting fire if only they could. “If you don’t mind,” she growled through clenched teeth. “We were actually just about to close up shop and our system is currently down. If you come back during operating hours tomorrow, I would be _happy_ to help schedule your appointments.”

Adonis held up his hands in surrender. “All right, I understand we came in a little too late. We’ll come back at a more decent hour to finish this up.”

“Wait for us, huh, sweethearts?” Hoseok winked at the two women.

Sooyun wanted to scream for some reason. Jamie looked ready to wring his neck.

“Yeah,” the first man yawned and cracked his neck. “Jimin was dying to come along anyway. He’ll be over the moon when we come back. C’mon, let’s go.”

Sooyun’s attention was suddenly on the man in the back that had been completely forgotten. He stood in the exact same spot, in the same stance, like he had turned into a statue. When he was called for, he slightly raised his chin, observing everyone from beneath the bill of his cap. His eyes were as dark as the shorter man’s but wider and less cat-like – more like a wolf’s. He begrudgingly pushed himself off the wall against which he leaned.

“Thank you for your help,” Adonis grinned. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that, they filed out the front door, the mysterious man following after.

The store was silent once the bell stopped ringing.

A loud groan exploded from Jamie, who slammed her head against the desk. Yugyeom and Sooyun both jumped, and she felt very concerned for her friend’s forehead. Jamie didn’t move of make another sound, which made Sooyun wonder if she was dead. She was proved wrong when the elder groaned again, much louder than before.

“Um …” Yugyeom began slowly, eyebrows furrowed. “Were they who I think they were?”

Jamie took a deep breath before pounding her fists on the desk and straightening up. “Are you _kidding me?!_ ” she shrieked at no one in particular.

Sooyun gasped, rolling her chair away from the poor girl. “Jamie … Are you okay?”

She sighed and covered her eyes. Sooyun wanted to comfort her, but she didn’t know how, or even what was going on. Nothing she could say would take away the dark look in Jamie’s eyes. Those men could have possibly been here before – maybe they had bad blood or were infamous in the underground and Sooyun just wasn’t aware. Either way, she could tell there was something very wrong with them.

“Okay,” Jamie said after a few more deep breaths. “Okay, I need to think about this for a moment … You two – uh – you two go home. I’ll be in the back. Just lock up after yourselves.” She disappeared into the back rooms and slammed the door so hard that the _“Beware of Dog”_ sign rattled sharply.

Again, the store was left in an awkward silence. Sooyun realized late that her palms had become quite sweaty in the time since the men had come in. She tried to discreetly wipe them on her skirt.

“Um, Yugyeom-oppa?” she interrupted the quiet. He just answered with a questioning hum. “Who was that?”

He glanced over at her, mouth pressed in a tight line, turning white around the ring pierced through his bottom lip. “I don’t know.”

She frowned. “Don’t lie to me.”

“Don’t take that tone with your elder,” he retaliated, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m honestly not even sure that I know who it was. And I don’t think we need to know. Let’s just go home and forget about it for tonight.”

“Forget?” she scoffed. “How can I forget about them? I’m pretty sure that walking Adonis and his friends broke Jamie.”

He tilted his head and pulling his mouth into a frown. “‘Adonis’? Really?”

Sooyun paled. “I … I, uh, I mean … you can’t deny that guy is like _supernaturally_ handsome.”

“I’m more handsome than him.”

“…”

“… Wow. Thanks, Sooyun.”

“N-No, no! That’s not what I meant! You’re very handsome!”

“Sure,” he rolled his eyes, a small, teasing grin on his face.

“I didn’t mean that!” she groaned.

He chuckled. “I know. I just like making you flustered. Let’s go. Tomorrow’s going to be a rough day.”

“And flustered she was, with an embarrassed blush that reached all the way down her neck. As he passed her to get to the door, she punched his arm. “Jerk.”

The both of them laughed on their way home, but Sooyun couldn’t help looking over her shoulder near the dark alleys. For some reason, she thought she kept seeing a tall figure lurking in the shadows, and it almost looked like it was wearing a ballcap.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bangtan has officially arrived!  
> They're going to be ooc, but what else is fanfic for? I hope ya'll enjoy because the ride is about to start for real! :)  
> Sorry, this is a long and descriptive chapter, but that's just my style 😅

_“Sooyun. Can you hear me? Wake up, Dear.”_

She groaned softly, the voice in her ear sounding almost like a buzzing fly. She still had a while before she had to wake up, so why was Jinyoung bugging her?

_“It’s time to wake up, Sooyun.”_

The voice floated delicately around her like a light, dreamy vapor, but the feminine lilt to it planted a heavy feeling in her heart. Jinyoung was the only other person home, and he wasn’t the type of guy to bring women home. Besides, this voice sounded oddly familiar and mature, not a young woman.

She tried to open her eyes, but her heavy lids could only lift halfway. The droopy laziness of sleep was strong enough to hold her down against her mattress and keep her from sitting up to look around. Even if she could get up, she wouldn’t be able to see anything; it was still dark outside without even a sliver of light peeking through her curtains. And it was cold. Ice cold.

Freezing terror rested on her chest and she had the sudden urge to leap out of bed and face the intruder – who could possibly be the apartment stalker – but she couldn’t move. Not a single muscle followed her orders, even her fingers refused to wiggle. Was this sleep paralysis? She whined lowly, the only sound she could make. She wanted to cry, but that would serve no purpose aside from making herself more vulnerable. She was stronger than that.

The strange voice laughed when Sooyun whined. It didn’t sound sinister or threatening, more like whoever it was thought she was cute. _“You don’t have to be afraid. You know me, Dear. I’m here to protect you. Now, open your eyes, Sooyun, all the way.”_

The weight in her eyelids went away, and they abruptly snapped wide open. She gasped and blinked to cool the sudden stinging, while her body thrashed involuntarily. The womanly voice tittered a second time, drawing Sooyun’s gaze to the place where the sound came from. But there was nothing there in the darkness.

Sooyun’s own voice got stuck in her throat when she tried to speak, to ask who was there and what they wanted. Frustrated tears stung the back of her eyes.

_“Oh, dear, I’m so sorry,”_ said the woman with no sincerity. _“Speak, Darling.”_

_Tersely, Sooyun snapped, “Who are you?”_

_She clicked her tongue. _“Now, now, no need to be rude.”__

_“Who are you?” she asked again, much less patiently this time._

_The woman sighed through the nose and light footsteps seemed to come nearer to the bed. Sooyun stiffened, catching a silhouette materializing near the window, darker than the night. She was slim and tall, but no other features were clear. _“Stubborn,”_ she grunted. She didn’t sound so friendly anymore. _“Your blood always has been. Really, it gets tiring after so many years. But I just can’t bring myself to leave you alone. You mean so, so much to me, sweet Sooyun.”__

_A cold, _scaly_ hand caressed Sooyun’s cheek, long nails dragging against the soft flesh and making her squirm. She choked on a disgusted gasp. It was as if a lizard were stroking her face._

__“Too sad that I cannot take you back with me just yet,”_ she whispered in a rougher voice as if her throat were suddenly coated with phlegm. Sooyun wanted to pull away, but the paralysis had not yet let go of her. She was stuck. _“But you’ll wait, won’t you? I need you, Sooyun. You are my only hope, so please don’t let me down. Beware goblins and wolves, Sooyun, sweet girl; they lurk closer than you think.”_ Her cold, dry lips pressed against Sooyun’s sweaty forehead. _“I’m watching over you. I’m the only one you can trust. I am your deliverer. Your guardian angel. Don’t let me down.”__

_With that, the presence vanished._

_Whatever had been restraining her released and she shot up, clutching her pounding chest and trying not to hyperventilate. The air around her was getting warmer the more she breathed, and sunlight steadily poured through the curtains. She could hear the sounds of daytime outside: Cars passing by, honking their horns, dogs barking, and people yelling. It was as if the whole world had come alive in only seconds._

_She couldn’t believe what had just happened. What was that thing? A demon? An intruder? If it was truly some form of person, then why did she sound so much like … so much like her mother._

_The thought itself made Sooyun’s heart jerk painfully. Was her mother visiting her dreams from beyond the grave? It felt too real to be a dream. And if it was, then why wouldn’t her mother show herself?_

__No._ Sooyun shook her head like a dog trying to dry itself. _It wasn’t Eomma. She gone. It couldn’t be her …__

_“SOOYUN-AH!”_

_“WHA! _WHAT?!_ ”_

_Jinyoung’s smiling face appeared from around her doorframe. She was already showered and dressed, ready to head off to work, while she was still rubbing crust from her eyes. “You’re not sleeping in again today. Get up and wash your face.”_

_She whined and turned away, falling onto her pillow. “Can’t you wake me up like a normal person?”_

_He laughed deviously. “Never.”_

_She mocked him under her breath and stuck her tongue out at him._

_“You have thirty seconds to get out of bed, or I’m throwing your breakfast in the trash.”_

_Nothing woke her up faster than food. In an instant, she threw her sheets off and flung herself out the door, following Jinyoung and the scent of fried eggs and fruit. She hadn’t even realized that the fog of morning was washing away everything that had happened during the night, and before long, she would forget that weird dream completely._

_But that hand that had touched her face – that slithery, long-nailed finger – the feeling of it stayed with her. Just the thought of that touch had goosebumps rising beneath her skin. She shivered._

_“You cold?” Jinyoung asked._

_Sooyun hadn’t known he was looking at her, so she was a bit surprised when he noticed her shudder. “What? Oh, uh – I mean, no. No, I’m good. Nice and toasty.” She grinned softly to assure him. He didn’t look very satisfied, but let it go._

_She didn’t want to give him yet another thing to worry about. She just prayed it wouldn’t visit him too._

__

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

When she walked into the parlor that afternoon, it was in chaos.

Well, a different kind of chaos than normal. The upbeat and playful atmosphere had turned heavy, and no one even offered a smile when Sooyun came in. Jamie was curled into herself on the sofa, face buried in her knees. Jaebum, BamBam and Jae were caught in a hushed and heated conversation that Sooyun couldn’t really understand. Yugyeom leaned against the wall, emotionless and paler than usual. 

He was the first to notice the girlin the doorway and regarded her with wide eyes. “Sooyun, hi.”

The others went silent and turned to look at her. No one spoke, thickening the discomfort hanging in the air. Jamie’s eyes were shiny with tears. What was going on?

“Is–” she frowned. “Is everything okay?” She knew it was a dumb question; nothing “okay” was happening right now.

Jaebum clenched his jaw before answering. “Yeah. We’re all good. Don’t worry about it.”

Sooyun had given a similar excuse to Jinyoung just that morning. “But what’s up?” She looked at her friend on the couch. “Why is Jamie crying?”

“He said not to worry, Sooyun-ah,” she smiled and wiped away the remnants of tears on her cheeks. “I’m fine.”

She didn’t look fine. Sooyun wondered if this had to do with her breakdown last night.

She glanced at Yugyeom, but he just shook his head, a sign not to ask any more questions. Sooyun listened, but very begrudgingly. Everyone dispersed after this, obviously uncomfortable and eager to leave. Jae went into Jaebum’s office to finish fixing the online problem and writing paychecks, and Jamie said something about fixing her makeup in the bathroom.

Shrugging, Sooyun dropped the subject for now, since no one was going to give her any answers anyway. After she clocked in for the day, she trudged over to the couch, throwing Jaebum a sideways glance as she passed him. His chin was sticking out, confirming her suspicions that this was a pretty bad situation. It was unbearably frustrating that no one would tell her anything, almost as if they didn’t trust her. Even BamBam, the biggest blabbermouth of them all managed to keep silent. He was always raring to gossip about customers or even coworkers but be somehow kept from spilling this apparently super devastating tea.

Admittedly, Sooyun threw a little tantrum, pouting and sighing loudly through her nose, making sure everyone in the room heard how frustrated she was. When Jaebum gave her a look, she glared back. He smirked and looked back to his cellphone. Groaning, Sooyun slouched into the cushions and considered what she could do to get busy, but also felt too slighted to bother. Jae needed some forms printed – taxes or something, she wasn’t entirely sure – but she was teaching them a lesson. And she was a little sister – she could keep this up _all day_.

Jamie returned a few moments later and sat down at the desk, suddenly typing up a storm, her fingers slamming the keyboard as if she held a grudge against it. Yugyeom and BamBam sat on the couch with Sooyun, but no one said anything.

It took about five minutes before Yugyeom’s head suddenly jerked up, eyes wide. “Hyung–”

Before he could finish, Jaebum was grabbing Sooyun by the arm and dragged her to her feet. She was startled but went along with it. He led her to the back door without a word. BamBam looked green and Jamie had straightened up in her chair.

“What’s happening now?” Sooyun asked.

“Just go in my office and tell Jae I need him up here, okay?” he ordered.

She frowned deeply. “Why?”

“No more questions or I’m calling Jinyoung to come get you right now.”

That shut her up.

Before Jaebum even touched the doorknob, the bell on the front entrance rang.

“Sooyun-ah!”

The Adonis was back. He strolled in with his two friends and another four behind them. That weighty tensions seeped into the room once more, cold intimidation radiating out from them stronger than the night before. Hoseok cheerily waved at Sooyun, the shorter man giving a lazy nod. She couldn’t tell which of the others had been the one with the ballcap, if any, but it didn’t matter, since each of them was plenty daunting anyway.

Adonis smiled wide. “Sooyun ~ Surprised to see us?”

She tried to speak, but this man made her tongue go numb. “I-I, uh …”

Her boss’s grip tightened almost painfully on her arm, making her wince, but she wasn’t brave or strong enough to shake him off. “Kim Seokjin,” he tried to smile, but it looked too tense. “Kim Namjoon. Good to see you again.”

Didn’t sound like it.

The tallest of the seven men lifted the side of his mouth in an amused smile. “Same to you Lim Jaebum.” Super deep dimples appeared when he smiled, each pierced with a small silver ball. They were cute and scary at the same time.

“What brings you?” asked Jaebum, slowly stepping in front of Sooyun. She looked curiously at the back of his head but didn’t speak up.

“We came to see Sooyun,” one of the men she hadn’t seen before spoke up from the back of the group, observing one of her drawings that was framed on the wall. He looked around Jaebum, studying Sooyun with huge, deep brown eyes.

She pointed at herself with a frown. Yugyeom caught her gaze from behind the med, the two of them looking lost. “Me?” she squeaked.

The Adonis – or, Kim Seokjin, according to Jaebum – laughed at her bewildered expression. “Yes, _you_. Why do you seem so surprised?”

“I just … uh …” she tugged on Jaebum’s sleeve, begging him to take over.

“We came to schedule some appointments last night, but you were closing, so we told Sooyun and Jimin that we’d come back today,” said Hoseok, gesturing to Jamie, who didn’t seem at all comfortable from her seat at the computer. “And here we are!”

Something clicked in Sooyun’s mind, something unsettling – how did he know Jamie’s real name? She and Yugyeom only used her nickname the night before, since they never really used her actual name. But, it did seem like Jaebum knew them, so maybe Jamie did too? It did make sense, considering how scared she was of them.

“Not to be rude,” the tall man – Kim Namjoon – broke into the conversation. “But we’re going to look around for a bit, okay? We want to find the perfect piece for us.”

Jaebum nodded and the men scattered around the lobby, doing the same thing they had done last night – just looking at the hanging art and through the hefty portfolios.

Sooyun eyes the handsome men carefully. There really didn’t seem to be anything particularly sinister about the group, besides the obvious authority they exuded, but her coworkers were all stiff and wary, observing them with dark and worried eyes. Growing up and working in this abysmal part of town had strengthened their nerves and toughened them up, and each swore by their proficiency in self-defense. So why did these men have such an effect on them?

The way them stood still and stared at the men made Sooyun feel small. Jamie nervously licked her lips while Yugyeom stood in front of the counter with his arms crossed and his mouth in a thin line. When had he moved over there? BamBam took a defensive stance as well, but not nearly as rigid and determined as his friend. Sooyun looked out of place and startled like a small animal.

It almost felt like she wasn’t a part of the scene at all, so she took the chance to examine each man closer.

Of course, the first thing she noticed was that they were all unjustly good-looking, but she found distinguishable qualities that gave them their own sort of charm. The man with the big eyes had a childish face, but his body looked muscular and severely toned beneath his leather jacket and tight black jeans. He had black hair that hung in his eyes and curled at the ends. As he wandered, he chewed on his bottom lip with large front teeth.

Another was the same size as the small-eyed man, but with more delicate features – big eyes, plump lips, cheeks just a little filled out. His silver-blue hair was swept off his forehead and gave him a certain air of strength and made him seem larger than he really was. But he seemed to be bothered by something; his weight shifted from leg to leg, he was wringing his hands, and his eyes darted from side to side in a jittery way.

The blond one was tall and broad, his handsome, chiseled face completely blank, emotionless. He stood in front of BamBam almost like he was keeping him from crossing the room. His blank eyes were big and dark, fringed with thick eyelashes.

He suddenly looked right at Sooyun, and she looked away, her heart beating quick for a moment. The way his gaze made her feel reminded her of being followed in the dark – she knew he was there and no matter where she hid, the eyes would follow.

Lastly, Kim Namjoon, the tall man with the pierced dimples. He was a round, soft face with fierce, calculating eyes. His grey hair contrasted against his tanned skin and only made him more intimidating. She couldn’t help but stare, though she wished she didn’t, because he also caught her. Again, she tore her eyes away and tried to be invisible.

“Sooyun,” Jaebum whispered. She raised her eyebrows at him. “Go behind the desk with Jamie. Try not to draw too much attention.”

“Why?” she prodded.

“These guys are dangerous. Even in the underground, they’re considered bad people. I don’t want you to put yourself in danger, so just do as I say.”

For a moment, she considered pressing him further, but knew it wasn’t the time. Silently, she inched away from Jaebum and towards the desk, her fists clenched so hard that her nails left crescent-shaped marks in her palms. Jamie noticed her from the corner of her eye and tilted her head back, beckoning Sooyun closer.

Once she was behind the counter, Jamie stood from the chair and pushed Sooyun to sit in it. “Stay quiet,” she whispered close to the younger’s ear, short auburn hair brushing her face.

Sooyun was shocked when she looked in Jamie’s eyes. She knew the men had to be bad, but she had never seen such fear on her friend’s face. The solid feeling in her stomach grew weightier the longer she looked into the elder’s blue eyes. Her lips were pursed to tightly together that they were turning a ghostly pale beneath her lipstick.

“They’re no joke,” she hissed, throwing a nervous look over her shoulder. “And, since you aren’t … used to this kind of thing, just keep quiet, please?”

Frowning, Sooyun shook her head. “But, last night–”

“This one.”

All heads turned toward the man who spoke. It was the shorter man from last night. She was staring at the others with his finger pointing at a sketch on the wall.

Jaebum’s heavy boots were the loudest thing in the room as he sauntered over to the man. Sooyun noticed his fingers twitching while he scanned the drawing. The other men gather to see what their friend had found.

Namjoon gave a satisfactory hum. “I like it. Good eye, Yoongi-hyung.” He plucked the picture form the wall and passed it to the others.

Sooyung’s mouth dried up when she caught a glimpse of the sketch. It was one of her own: a delicate, blue flower, surrounded by lush, wild weeds and shadows of lime green underneath. It had been one of the first designs she made that was worthy of displaying. Many customers had complimented her on it, but when they asked what kind of flower it was, she never had an answer. She had seen it in a dream, but nowhere else. It was like it wasn’t a real flower at all, and for some reason, that put most people off.

Her boss’s teeth dug into his bottom lip. He knew it was hers and if they chose it, she would be alone in her office with these men.

“I don’t know,” the most muscular one frowned, and Sooyun let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “I mean, flowers are pretty girly, aren’t they?”

Seokjin gasped in offense and touched the rose tattooed on the side of his neck.

“Why don’t we get that cool dragon over there?”

“You have a butterfly on your arm, Gguk,” the blond man with thick eyelashes muttered in a voice so low it should be on the ground. “That’s pretty girly too.”

“Yeah, but butterflies are a symbol of rebirth and metamorphosis. Plus, the ladies like it,” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

“You’re scared of girls.”

“Sh-Shut up!”

The blond man elbowed him in the gut in response.

Sooyun gasped as the boy named Gguk doubled over in pain. Her friends often hit each other in good fun – Youngjae was notorious for slapping others whenever he laughed – but this man had reeled back and pounded his friend with all of his strength – his muscles tightening beneath his shirt. No doubt the hit would bruise something awful. The scariest part was that the man did it so nonchalantly, stuffing his hands back into his pockets afterward and looking around with no emotion.

“I like it too,” Seokjin rubbed his chin and nodded. The others agreed.

Jaebum’s face drained of all color. “Are you considering this as a group tattoo?” he asked hollowly. They nodded again. “Well, I’m afraid the artists who made that design s still a beginner in the trade. If you all want this tattoo, the work will have to be split among artists, so they may be slightly different from each other.”

“This is Sooyun’s work, right?” Yoongi asked.

She actually flinched when he said her name.

Everyone turned to her, eyes wide and dark.

“Ah, you trying to hide from us?” the man with thick lashes asked, his voice low as it was threatening.

She felt like a bug beneath a magnifying glad as they made their way to the pay counter. Jamie sidled up closer to the laminate divider with Yugyeom. She felt a little safer, but the room also seemed to shrink as they closed in. Yes, strangers were were weak spot anyway, but this was a new level of uncomfortable.

“Are you gonna answer?” asked Gguk, looking around Jamie to meet Sooyun’s eyes.

Hastily moistening her mouth, she shook her head. “N-No, I wasn’t hiding.” Her trembling voice wasn’t too convincing.

“Cute.” She wrinkled her nose when Seokjin chuckled. He smiled brilliantly while pointing at the sketch. “You drew this, yeah?”

She nodded.

“Great! We all love the design and would be honored to be tattooed by the hottest young artist in town.”

She and Jamie both frowned at each other. “The hottest what?”

Hoseok smiled. “Your tattoos are all anyone’s talking about. Your work is amazing.”

She couldn’t believe it. People really liked her art that much? Impossible.

“I’ll get the paperwork,” Jamie said, sounding a bit bored, but with a slight waver in her voice. “Take a seat on the sofa, please.” She placed her hand on Sooyun’s shoulder to tell her to stay put.

She printed out seven consent waivers and information forms, handing them out to each man, mouth shut and back stiff. The short, silver-haired man became a nervous wreck and looked as if he wanted to say something important when Jamie gave him the paper, but quickly shut his mouth again and started to fill them out with the provided pen.

Sooyun remained behind the desk with her arms crossed and pouting. Again, she was beyond confused and dying to ask what was up with Jamie and that guy, so she reached over the counter to tug on Yugyeom’s sweater and interrogate him. He gave a nervous smile before placing a long finger to his lips. When she went back to sulking, he came around the desk to sit on the counter and pulled her a bit further from the front by the back of her chair.

Looking up, Sooyun met the eyes of one man staring back from beneath strong eyebrows, quietly tapping his pen against the clipboard that held his forms. She did not like the way he eyed her – like she was an animal in a zoo, and he was waiting impatiently for her to do a trick. A shudder passed through her and she scooted back in her chair, subsequently moving herself closer to Yugyeom.

When the forms were handed in, Jamie sighed in annoyance; it seemed every one of them put Sooyun down as their preferred artist. “As Jaebum-oppa said before, Sooyun is still a beginner, so not all of you can have her as your artist. Some of you will go with Jaebum-oppa or BamBam. Their styles are similar, so the tattoos will all be the same, I promise.”

Seokjin sighed. “If you insist.”

Sooyun’s eyes grew wide. “I-I’m actually doing this?”

Jamie frowned over her shoulder at her. “Unfortunately, yes. You are.”

“Jimin, you are still the ray of sunshine I remember,” Hoseok snickered sarcastically. She gave him a scathing glare.

“Okay,” she sighed and scratched her head with her pen. “And you all want the flower design?”

“I still want the dragon,” Gguk muttered to the nervous man.

Jamie printed the design on a few pieces of transfer paper while the artists conferred with the men where they would want the tattoo. BamBam was assigned Hoseok and Yoongi. Sooyun would take Seokjin and Taehyung, the man who wouldn’t stop staring at her. Jeongguk, the boy with big eyes, and the nervous man, Jimin – which was pretty ironic – would go with Jaebum after he finished up with Namjoon.

Sooyun cleared her throat after most of the room’s occupants had left. “Um, Seokjin-ssi, will you please follow me?” she asked, wincing when her voice broke.

The older man chuckled and walked with her to the hall. She was sharing Jamie’s piercing room until she was no longer an apprentice, so Yugyeom was sent back ten minutes before her to set up all her tools and the chair. She couldn’t be more thankful he was sitting in on these sessions.

Seokjin made a curious noise when he noticed Jamie’s name on the door. “Do you not have your own office?” he asked.

“I’m mostly a back-up,” she said numbly. “I’m really their receptionist, but the pay’s better as an artist. Until I’m ready, I usually do my work in Jaebum-oppa’s office.”

“If the pay is better, why don’t you quit being the receptionist?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a people person and touching strangers is something I’m still not totally ready to make a career out of.”

He snickered. “You make it sound so dirty.”

A blush rose high on her cheeks. Her friends loved to poke fun at her innocence, but she didn’t know Seokjin well enough, so his little comment went ignored. She was feeling a bit guilty for acting so detached toward a customer, but if Jamie and Jaebum didn’t like someone, she probably shouldn’t either.

Yugyeom was playing on his phone when they entered, his giant body lain across Jamie’s sofa. Sooyun smiled when he gave her a little wave. “Hello,” he greeted the elder man. “My name is Kim Yugyeom. Nice to meet you.”

Seokjin regarded him inquisitively. “You’re new here.”

The younger nodded. “Came around just last year, but I’ve heard a lot about you guys. You’re Kim Seokjin, right?”

“I am.”

“Please have a seat,” she said quickly. The way Seokjin was glaring at Yugyeom was making her anxious – she hadn’t seen a stranger’s eyes look so dark. “I’ll finish getting everything ready.”

Seokjin complied and sat down in the comfy chair set in the center of the room. Sooyun took a deep breath, pulled on her gloves and face mask, and went to work.

His session wasn’t too long, just over two hours, but Sooyun was pretty burnt out by the end of it – mentally, physically, and socially – but she still had another customer to ink before the end of the night.

The two boys chatted tersely back and forth for most of the session, which helped her focus on her work rather than having to think of answers to questions or things to ask him. She preferred to work in silence, and that could lead to some very awkward appointments, so having someone else to entertain her customer was always welcome.

Sooyun breathed heavily as she wiped the blood and excess ink away with her rag. Just the sight of it used to be enough to make her nauseous, and sometimes she even passed out, but she had gradually grown used to it, at least when work was involved. If she caught sight of blood outside of the parlor … no. Just, no. 

She held in the cold shiver that ran down her spine but couldn’t control the hitch in her breathing.

“Are you all right?” Seokjin asked softly, grabbing her attention.

She looked up from her work on his bicep and managed a quirk of her eyebrow. “Of course. Why do you ask?”

“You look pale,” he looked at Yugyeom. “Doesn’t she look pale?”

He nodded. “It’s the blood; makes her sick.”

The older man scoffed, no longer concerned. “Then, why the hell are you doing this?”

She shrugged, putting down the rag and focusing on filling in the shadows of the flower. She reckoned only about ten more minutes and she could wrap him up and kick him out. Not that she had any ill-will towards him, but she was feeling a but woozy and tense and she didn’t want to touch him for much longer – oh, he was right. That did sound dirty.

Finally, it was done. She sat back on her stool and admired her handiwork for a little. It had to be one of her best. For a moment, Sooyun allowed herself a proud puff of her chest. Her tools clanged on the tray table and she reached for the medicine and dressings to clean and protect the fresh wound.

“Done already?” Seokjin sounded impressed. “You work fast.”

“I told you, I don’t like touching people.”

“Any particular reason why?”

Sooyun pursed her lips. Not even all of her coworkers knew the reason why she was averse to bodily contact, but she was blessed that they never tried to overstep. They accepted it with no questions asked, but she wasn’t sure a stranger who busted in demanding she tattoo him would be as respectful.

She shook her head, ignoring him to instead dress his tattoo.

“So, is it just a preference? Boyfriend-nim over there must _lo~ve_ that,” he threw the joke over to Yugyeom. He and Sooyun lit up like matches, which she watered down with a glare, not at all amused by his mocking tone.

“‘Boyfriend’?” Yugyeom hadn’t recovered from the remark, his agitated fingers picking nervously at the frayed rips in his jeans. His eyes were wide, and embarrassment was written very obviously across his cheeks.

Seokjin’s eyes sparkled; he knew exactly what he did. “Oh, am I wrong? The two of you just seem so close.”

“We-We’re just friends,” he stuttered out. Sooyun raised her brow, but otherwise disregarded the odd way Yugyeom shifted in his seat and grew increasingly interested in his fingernails.

An amused hum left Seokjin, who she was thankful was finally wrapped up and ready to leave. When she told him such while removing her rubber gloves, he pouted. “Already? But we were having fun.”

Exhausting was not a strong enough word to describe this man. By the time she brought him out to the foyer, she suspected she had bags under her eyes.

Jamie gave her a pitiful look, but she just shook her head, not willing to talk about it. “Just give me the paper for the next one and let’s get this over with.”

She sighed and nodded once. “Fine, just don’t wear yourself out. You know Jinyoung will notice if there’s even just one new wrinkle under your eyes.”

“And because you love me, right?” Sooyun added sardonically.

Jamie snorted. “I thought that would just be redundant.”

She took the transfer paper with a tied smirk. “Wish me luck. Jaimie.”

“Good luck,” she chuckled. Her eyes darted towards Sooyun’s next client. “You’ll need it.”

Frowning, Sooyun followed her gaze to Taehyung. The tall, dark-eyed man lounged on the sofa, one arm slung over the back and the other across his stomach. He was looking closely at the designs on the wall, not seeming interested in the exciting conversations in which his friends immersed themselves. It was like he was in a world all his own, without a single care for the reality around him, in fact regarding everything with a certain aloofness that made him seem jaded and cold.

When she took a moment to look at the paper, she was rattled by the man’s eyes suddenly boring into her when she glanced back up. His gaze was heavy and emotionless, and she wondered how she would survive three whole hours with him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late because I didn't have time over Thanksgiving to post >~<  
> Enjoy!

“Taehyung-ssi,” Sooyun loudly called his name to be heard over the argument Jeongguk and Seokjin had started over apparently nothing. A soft look he hasn’t shown yet overtook his handsome face and nearly knocked her back from surprise. “I … Are you ready?”

He nodded, pushing himself up from the couch and strolling to where she stood. She took an involuntary step back – this man’s aura was darker than the others. She could _feel_ the power and warning that radiated off his bronze skin. It was like his very essence was cautioning Sooyun not to mess with him is she valued her teeth.

To her annoyance, some of the boys snickered at her evident fear. She desperately wanted to show them her strong, invulnerable side, not the part of her that flinched from someone coming too close. So, she steeled her gaze and cast an uninterested look Taehyung’s way, building up a mildly convincing wall.

“Let’s go then,” she said, jerking her head toward the hallway. He obliged and followed her lead into the office, where Yugyeom was almost asleep again. When she closed the door behind them, he jerked awake and hastily wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. She smirked at his bleary expression.

“So,” she cleared her throat while sitting on her stool. “Jamie said you’d like the tattoo on your chest, right?” He nodded. “Why don’t you go ahead and remove your shirt to show me where?”

He silently removed his tan jacket and black shirt, revealing a toned torso, not quite as cut as Jackson or Jinyoung, but still chiseled and taught. His skin was covered in scars and ink – much like Yugyeom’s. His tattoos were scarce and didn’t stick to any specific motif, but they made his body into an incredible work of art. A prominent scar stood out on his unmarked chest; decorated with nasty scars, Sooyun wondered for a moment why he hadn’t covered it yet. The white and pink scars formed their own picture that closely resembled a dead rose. It already looked pretty against his golden skin. It would be a shame to cover it.

But just as Sooyun thought, he pointed right at that spot. “Here.”

She swallowed the weird lump in her throat and nodded. “Okay. Take a seat and I’ll get everything ready.”

To her luck, it seemed Yugyeom had already cleaned her tools and had them all prepared on the tray. She gave him a grateful smile, knowing this would shorten the session time. Taehyung’s eyes alone made her feel as if there were a forty-pound weight resting on her shoulders, and she wanted him out of the vicinity as soon as possible.

After putting on her gloves and mask, she took the transfer paper and positioned it on the appointed area. He helped her adjust it until it was perfect, and she dyed the blue lines from the paper onto his skin. The flesh was tan and beautiful, smooth and tight over his muscles. Sooyun hadn’t imagined that scars could be so smooth. It almost felt like a travesty to put her mark over it.

He had hardly moved an inch during the entire preparation process, and she thought for a moment that he must have fallen asleep while she worked, but when she glanced up, his wolf-like eyes were still focused on her.

Well, might as well get it over with.

She started her needle gun, the harsh whizzing sound penetrating the quiet office, and dipped the tip into the small cup of ink on the small tray table.

The only sign of discomfort that Taehyung gave was a slight twitch of his abdominal muscles when her needles first pierced his skin. She held her breath as she traced along his skin with her tool. If she made a single mistake, it would permanently mar the perfect, sun-kissed skin that was stretched across his body like a perfect canvas.

Following the blue lines of her template was like walking a tightrope. The needle was Sooyun, the stencil the wire, and if she leaned too far one way or another, it would end in disaster.

A deep humming, almost like a purr reached her ears. Her gaze met his, the blank look on his face replaced with a barely-there smirk. She questioned him with her eyes and a shock ran through her spine when he moved his arm to poke the crease between her furrowed brows.

Thank God she had already turned the needle off, or else there could have been a disaster when she reeled back.

“You looked ready to stab someone,” he quipped, lightly rubbing the spot. “Try to relax, Doll, your lines will flow smoother that way.”

She slapped his hand away with a sharp glare; he was acting a little too friendly for having barely exchanged two words prior to this. When he noticed the fire spitting from her eyes, he held up his hands in surrender, giving her a bit of satisfaction.

“Technically, I’ve already stabbed you,” she muttered, turning the gun back on and gesturing for him to lay flat again. “Like a thousand times.”

Yugyeom snorted.

Sooyun cracked a smile when she noticed Taehyung twitch again, thankfully hidden behind her mask.

In between tracing the lines and wiping away excess ink and blood, her gaze wandered over his other tattoos. Somehow, even though they were obviously from different artists with different styles, every line and dip of the ink molded together beautifully to form one painting. Not a single dot or line or color looked out of place or unlike any other, instead just adding to the flow of the art piece. The small details of each tattoo had a curious feeling creeping into her mind, had her wondering what deep meanings they could hold.

The way the colors matched wasn’t tacky, like the obnoxious unicorn she had seen Jaebum begrudgingly tattoo on a middle-aged man who was desperately trying to impress his young girlfriend. Most were a breathtaking mixture of black, blue, and yellow, reminiscent of “Starry Night”. The rendition of Van Gogh’s famous work flowed across his left hip, dipping down past what the waistband of his jeans allowed her to see.

“That’s one of my favorites,” he chimed.

Sooyun’s cheeks flushed when she realized she’d been staring. “Ah, um, sorry.”

He smirked as he looked from her to his hip as if admiring the piece anew. “Don’t be. It’s nice, isn’t it? A friend from Germany did for he in return for a favor.”

Yugyeom quirked an eyebrow and piped up from his place on the sofa. “Germany? Do you travel often?”

Taehyung nodded, relaxing back in his seat when she started tattooing again. “Not so much anymore. We used to go all over, the seven of us, but we like where we are now. It’s nice to be home.”

“I hear you,” the younger man sighed. He had propped his feet up on one end of the couch with his head resting on the other, looking too tranquil for being on the job and in the same room as a man whom one could only assume was a member of the kkangpae. “I used to make my way around, but Seoul will always be home for me.”

While the two of them chattered away, Sooyun focused all her attention on her work instead. All her efforts needed to be poured into this job, and she was already having trouble with the soreness of her wrist. It was already a bit achy from Seokjin’s session, and such a delicate tattoo could be ruined by only the slightest twitch of her fingers. Why did she do this to herself? Why couldn’t she just do big, blocky tattoos like other artists she knew of? The thin lines and itty-bitty details only made it that much harder on her – that was yet another reason why she was mostly up front. Working with the computer, although it didn’t pay as well, was so, so much easier.

Yugyeom’s boots squeaked on the tile as he came up behind Sooyun, leaning over her shoulder to look at her progress so far. “It’s really good ~” he sang with a smile. “Great job, Sooyun-ah.”

She hummed in gratitude, not taking her eyes off of the flower. She was moving on to color already, a mixture of violet and blue for the petals and a sweet green for the leaves. The shading was tricky, but it was worth it to see a two-dimensional picture gain depth until it practically leapt off the skin. Yugyeom stayed there for a few more moments before going back to the couch to laze for a while.

Taehyung sighed and closed his eyes. Maybe he was so used to this that he could fall asleep despite the pain. Sooyun remembered how much it hurt just to pierce her ears, she couldn’t imagine sitting still through all the painful pin-pricks tattoos came with.

Finally, she finished amidst silence, neither Yugyeom nor Taehyung having spoken for the last half-hour.

The former stood from the couch as she was gathering the dressings for Taehyung, announcing he was going to the bathroom and leaving her alone with Taehyung in a closed-off office. His stare felt even more intense without Yugyeom there as a buffer between the two. She tried hard not to focus on his face, instead setting her gaze on his chest where her fresh creation now rested forever. As she was rubbing in some aftercare cream over the disinfected ink, he suddenly cleared his throat, the loud noise startling her.

“Can I ask a favor?” he asked. His voice sounded even deeper from this close. She didn’t want to, but she nodded slightly. “I would like to consult with you about another tattoo.”

She frowned. “Um … I don’t know. You’d have to schedule another appointment, and I really couldn’t do anything else today …”

“I know,” he said gently. “I didn’t expect you to be up for something like that after dealing with Seokjin-hyung.” He laughed.

He _laughed_.

Sooyun hadn’t expected his laugh to be so musical and – honestly – cute. His smile was boxy and endearing, sweetly wrinkling his doughy cheeks and turning his dark eyes into crescents. Her heart leaped in surprise against her ribcage.

Unfortunately, she stared longer than she should have, and he noticed, his bright smile quickly turning concerned. “What is it?” he asked, looking completely sincere. She had expected him to act more like Seokjin and tease her about it, but he seemed genuinely perplexed.

“Nothing,” she answered dumbly. “Uh, what’s the tattoo?”

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. When he turned it to Sooyun, she observed the photo of a gargoyle perched atop an old church. Its ugly, grimacing face and shriveled body were gross and made her cock her head in confusion.

“You want me to put this … thing on you?” she asked with a grimace. “Are you sure?”

“No, no,” he huffed out a laugh. “Not the statue itself – just the wings.”

She took a closer look at the small screen. He swiped to another picture of the statue, this one from behind. Slightly folded wings extended from the stone creature’s hunched back. They were feathered, softer looking than any gargoyle wings she had seen in pictures or movies. Drawing them wouldn’t be too hard, but she was stuck on a question.

“Why not, like, bird wings or something?” she glanced up at his face with a furrowed brow. “Why this?”

He sighed and leaned back in the chair. “Legends about gargoyles say that they were humans who gave into their sinful natures, becoming greedy, lustful, gluttonous, wrathful creatures. People claimed that if a gargoyle is depicted with wings, it shows that the human is still capable of redemption. That it’s heart can be cleansed.”

She nodded is understanding as she turned to gather the last of the coverings even though she now felt a niggling in the back of her mind. It sounded as if he was speaking about someone personally, like he was telling someone’s story instead of relaying an old legend. Could he be describing himself, or someone he knew? She wondered anew if Taehyung was really as dangerous as she first believed. “Yeah, but … why this?”

Taehyung didn’t look up, just stared down at his clasped hands. “A fallen angel always wants his wings back.”

She turned back to him, expecting – hoping – to see him smirking, but his face was just as blank as ever. The niggling feeling became a chill at his dead-eyed expression, a chill that ran down her back and right up to her dry throat.

“Taehyung-ssi?” she asked in an unstable voice.

He finally met her eyes, dark eyes crinkling in a mirthless smile. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

Flustered, she cleared her throat into her fist and cursed Yugyeom for taking so long – weren’t men supposed to pee fast?!

“Anyway,” she sang awkwardly while covering the flower with cellophane and gauze. “Talk to Jamie. She’ll help you schedule an appointment.”

“Don’t you also work the front desk?”

She bit the inside of her cheek and nodded once. “Yeah, but I’m tired.” He giggled and shut up after that.

The sudden shift in his behavior was incredibly scary – one moment, he was silent, stoic, and menacing, but then he was talkative and _giggling_. She had never witnessed someone switch personalities so quickly or so extremely, the change nearly giving her whiplash and leaving her slightly reeling. Usually, she wouldn’t invest so much curiosity or interest in her customers – instead mastering the great art of looking attentive while they spoke while whistling “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” in her head – but he was a special kind of interesting and she felt drawn to the mysterious nature of this man. It made her want to know more.

She had to stop.

“Yah, Sooyun-ah,” Yugyeom burst into the room with a loud call and a juice box in his hand. “Jamie wanted to know if you’re almost done. The others are all ready to pay up and go.”

The intrusion suddenly made her hyper aware of how close she was standing to a shirtless Taehyung and had her face heating up like an iron. She took a larger-than-necessary set back while coughing and trying not to notice the suspicion in Yugyeom’s eyes. “Ah, yeah, yeah. We’re done,” she said quickly, turning on her heel to remove her gloves and mask. “You two do ahead out, I’ll catch up when I’m done cleaning.”

Yugyeom frowned and she made a face warning him to shut up. But he could be dense at the very worst of times. “But that’s my job.”

“I said, _I’ll catch up_.” She hissed in a much more urgent voice than she intended.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” he threw up his hands in surrender. “Taehyung-ssi, will you follow me while Sooyun pulls herself together?”

While she prepared to disinfect her workstation, she heard Taehyung’s footsteps quietly making their way toward the door before it shut behind the two men. For some odd reason, she found herself disappointed that he didn’t offer a goodbye, but she shook off that feeling, berating herself for thinking like a child.

The uncomfortable feelings she had about the men returned when she heard a squeaky laugh from the lobby that definitely didn’t belong to any of her friends. She wasn’t sure why she was suddenly comfortable with letting her guard down around someone when Taehyung’s very gaze left her withering when he first arrived. Why did she still find his friends utterly threatening, but felt at ease enough to banter with him? She hated strangers and especially despised making conversations with them, not to mention she hadn’t been able to genuinely smile at anyone other than her friends for almost seven years now.

Despite the odd comfort around him, she was not eager to see him again. She didn’t like that feeling, because she knew how dangerous it was to trust someone so easily and had promised herself she wouldn’t do so again. Taehyung was a danger to that vow.

“You made it through today,” she sighed quietly to herself. “If you do that next tattoo, then you’ll never have to see him again.”

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

Jinyoung’s worst nightmare was currently taking place.

Since Jinyoung was still oblivious to her workplace, he had asked Jackson to walk Sooyun home, who in turn had asked Jaebum since he had to keep his eyes on a few belligerent drunks at the club where he worked as a bouncer. Jaebum had to stay back to speak with Jae, Jamie and a few others over the phone for some reason they weren’t eager to share, so he asked the boys. Yugyeom had already left, so BamBam agreed and everyone went about their business.

To her luck, which had just about run out that night, Sooyun’s escort was fast asleep on the couch. His head was back so far that it sounded as if he were choking on his own snores. Sooyun had been finishing up cleaning the break room when she noticed her shift had ended fifteen minutes before. When she entered the lobby to sign out on the computer, she discovered the man dead to the world. She considered waking him for a brief moment, but it was such an exhausting day for everyone that she didn’t feel like robbing him of his well-deserved rest.

Against everyone’s interest except her own, Sooyun left the store by herself for the first time in months. It was liberating to the lock the front door while he meant to walk her home was still inside and oblivious. Maybe she had a rebellious side she wasn’t quite aware of, but she couldn’t question something that felt so good.

Shoving her hands in the pockets of her oversized jacket, she practically skipped down the street, one earbud playing a catchy song to which she hummed along. It was a nice night, despite the dirty, stinky alleyways and gutters. She had grown so accustomed to the downtown smells and sights that she hardly batted an eyelash anymore when she passed by something that would normally be thought of as “uncouth” – that’s not to say she didn’t find some things there revolting, but she conditioned herself to look away.

She turned onto one of the back streets leading to her bus stop, which was noticeably darker than the others. It was here that she realized she’d made a mistake.

Boots clicked against the pavement behind her.

It was hard not to panic, but Sooyun did her best to even out her breathing and not show how nervous this person made her. If she didn’t look afraid, maybe they would leave her alone. Or it could be they weren’t following her at all, just walking in the same direction, but that was hard to believe in this part of town.

When she sped up, so did the stalker. She tried slowing down. They did too. Now, she was certain they were following her.

She considered calling someone, but when she took out her phone, it only lit up for a moment before dying, taking her music with it. Which shaking fingers, she tried to turn it back on, but it was completely drained. This couldn’t be – she had been charging it all day at the shop! Without any way of contacting her friends, she felt even more vulnerable. Frantic, she began speed-walking, breathing heavier when the footsteps kept up with her speed.

“Now, now,” a woman’s gruff voice called after her in a singsong way. “Don’t run away ~”

The cheery lilt had a fist of ice tightening around her throat, squeezing the air from her lungs. The voice shouldn’t have been so loud, but it seemed to ring off every surface around, behind and in front of her, like it had been amplified by speakers or something. Of course, she knew better – nothing about this made sense, and whoever the woman following her was, she was _not_ normal. She had to get away from her, or … well, she didn’t know what would happen, but she was certain she’d be dead some wat or another. So, she ran.

“You can’t get away from us,” she laughed, a sound more horrible than it should have been. “We can all smell you, cutie. _She_ wants you, and we always get her what she wants.”

Sooyun gasped, nearly tripping over her feet on the uneven ground. Who the hell was _she_?! The way she hissed the word sent painful jolts through her, and she knew somehow that whoever _she_ was, _she_ was someone to be feared. Why would _she_ be after Sooyun? She didn’t do anything! They had the wrong person!

The woman was close behind her, hardly three meters from grabbing her by the hair. There were tears flooding her eyes as she ran, her lungs burning from the cold air and legs groaning for her to stop. She knew she was a fast sprinter, but she couldn’t keep going for long – only a few more blocks and her body would no doubt give out.

But she didn’t have to run much further, because she hadn’t seen the beer bottle lying on the ground before she stepped right on it so perfectly that her ankle snapped with a harsh _pop_ when it slipped out from under her. A sharp pain shot up her leg, alarm following closely behind as she hurtled towards the ground. She didn’t have time to catch herself and landed flat. Her hands and knees scraped the pavement as she fell, but the agony in her leg was too hot for her to feel anything else, even with blood streaming from her nose.

That horrible, giddy laughter echoed around her, boots thudding closer and closer to the girl’s numb form. She wanted to crawl away, but, for some reason, she couldn’t. She couldn’t even turn her head to face the stalker.

“You know it too, right?” she sneered, the two of her heavy shoe poking Sooyun in the ribs. She hissed and bit her lip to muffle her fearful whimper. “That mark on your back is burning for _her_ and we’re all tired of waiting. My pack craves revenge just as much as _she_ does.”

How did she know about Sooyun’s birthmark? She’d never told anyone about it! How could they know so much about her?

Just as she was about to scream and humiliate herself, someone else came running towards her. For a moment, she thought it was a partner of this woman and she was going to die. But then, she heard the sound of a hefty boot slamming into flesh. The woman’s loud laughter turned into a cry of pain when she toppled to the ground. Sooyun could just see her lying on her back, holding her face in her hands, and moaning loudly.

The stranger kicked the woman over and over. Despite how scared she was of the stalker, Sooyun didn’t want to see someone get beaten up so violently. The assault went on for what seemed like hours, even though it should have only been a few moments before the woman stopped groaning. She must have lost consciousness. Her head was fuzzy from the pain still shooting through her leg and she supposed she’d join the stalker when the newcomer turned on her.

Those boots appeared in her sightline, looking thick and heavy enough to crush her skull. She was really going to die, huh?

_It’s been nice, life._

The person then squatted down beside her and rolled her over with surprising gentleness. The turning world had her reeling for a moment, her head full of water and glass. When she could open her eyes, they grew wide when she saw who had protected her.

It was the ballcap man, a hood pulled over his hat and a mask covering the bottom half of his face. Only his fierce eyes were visible, but Sooyun’s eyes were too blurry to even make out the shape or color of them.

“Who –”

She was cut off when arms slipped beneath her knees and back, heaving her up from the ground as if she weighed nothing more than a pillow. As much as she wanted to fight against him and thrash and until he let her go, all she could compel herself to do was kick and whimper.

Pathetic.

A low voice suddenly spoke, louder than the stalker’s, pounding inside her head now, not the alley. _“Sleep.”_

So, she did.

The next thing she remembered was walking up in her bed, sitting straight up with a loud gasp. She eyes scanned every inch of her room, searching for either of the strangers, half-expecting them to leap out and finish the job. But there was no one lurking in the darkness of the early morning.

Slowly, she moved her leg to stand up, but froze when she noticed something was very different – her ankle. It felt fine, better even. Frightened, she wiggled her leg and twirled her foot, but not a single inkling of pain registered.

She was scared. She was confused. She was damn tired.

But she couldn’t sleep.

She couldn’t stop thinking about who had saved her, _what_ he was, and why he always seemed to be lurking around.

But most of all, she wondered why _she_ sent that woman after her. How did they know about her birthmark? What else did they know, what did they have to use against her?

The only certainty was that she was in danger and didn’t even understand why.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heck, yeah! Now, we're getting into the thick of things :)

“I’m sorry, _what happened_?!”

Sooyun cringed and covered Jackson’s mouth. All the attention in the small café was on them after his loud outburst. “Will you be quiet?” she hissed in a sharp whisper.

“No,” he shook off her hands. “Not after you tell me you were literally _attacked_ last night!” Completely ignoring the judgmental stares of the other customers, he stood up over the table and held her face only centimeters from hers with his hands tightly clasping her shoulders. His wide, concerned eyes wildly scanned her face, checking for any bruises or dirt she may have forgotten to clean off her cheek. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where? I’ll kill her!”

She angrily swatted him away. “Stop – Stop it!” she spat. Jackson pulled back with a whine, his eyes still shining with worry. “Sit down!”

He huffed and conceded but wouldn’t stop studying her. “This is serious, Sooyun. I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay.”

Sighing, she slipped down in her seat and nervously chewed her bottom lip. Technically, she _was_ hurt but telling him would only make him even sicker with worry and he’d probably go crazy trying to find the woman who chased her. And if she mentioned the ballcap man and her ankle miraculously healing itself in a matter of hours, he’d assume she had a concession and she’d be stuck in the hospital or the looney bin. But she knew what she saw and what she felt were real, not something imaginary. Everything was too vivid and scary to just be a hallucination. Even remembering the sound of her ankle snapping made her stomach twist.

Jackson noticed her squirming in her seat. His nostrils flared for a moment like her smelled something in the sir. “Where were you hurt?”

“Huh?” she responded, feigning innocence.

He shook his head. The expression he usually reserved for work was directed at her for the first time in their entire relationship, along with an accusatory finger in her face. “Don’t you play dumb with me,” he muttered, voice dropping lower than normal. “I can read you like a book, and I don’t trust that look you have.”

“What look?”

“Stop it.”

_Damn his eyes._

She groaned and rubbed at her sweaty forehead. “Why do you figure out all the things I don’t want you to, but never notice when I’m hinting at a birthday present?”

“Because I’m basically your brother. Now, ‘fess up.”

“Okay,” she relented, feeling a little ill. Jackson was her friend; he wouldn’t doubt or hurt her … that’s what she always thought. How often was that true though? How many times has she been proven wrong? She took a deep breath of courage and finally answered. “I fell when I was running and … I scraped my knee on the pavement. It really hurt but I didn’t want you to notice.”

_Good job, Sooyun. Lying through your teeth always ends well._

But it seemed to work for Jackson because he deflated a bit with relief. “Okay, that makes me feel a little better. I thought it was more serious – I mean, your face went pale, so I was expecting something a little more dramatic.

She made a sour face. “Don’t mock my pain.”

He smirked. “Sure, Snowflake.”

“I’m going to throw my coffee at you if you don’t treat me nicely.”

“That’s hot chocolate.”

“Doesn’t matter, it’ll still burn.”

“Fine, I got it. But what about the girl chasing you? Do you know what happened to her?”

_Yeah, she got beaten up by a dude in a baseball cap who may or may not have been stalking me for the past few weeks._

“Some guys noticed she was following me and stopped her. But I ran away before I saw anything else,” she shrugged.

He seemed to believe that lie too, so she sipped her hot chocolate, eyes shifting to the cookie in the glass cabinet she’d been craving since they walked in. She’d hoped Jackson would buy it for her if she stared long enough, but she’d already established that he couldn’t read her deliberate hints.

“Good girl, get out of there and don’t look back.” He smiled proudly and reached to pat her head but pulled back at the last moment, remembering she didn’t appreciate things like that. “I talked to Jaebum last night too; he said you all had some unpleasant guests at the shop.”

She frowned, still watching the cookie. “Yeah, I guess.”

“I guess it was your first time meeting Bangtan, right?” he said while stirring his coffee.

“Who’s that?”

His eyebrows quirked slightly. “You don’t know their name? No one even told you what they’re called?”

“I didn’t know they had a group name.”

He began to roll his eyes, but stopped, a grim expression creeping onto his face. His brows furrowed and his lips pursed slightly, fingers tapping agitatedly on the table. “You don’t think …” he sighed and shook his head, dismissing his thoughts.

“What?” she prodded him, hunching over the table to look him in the eyes. “What don’t I think?”

“No, don’t worry about it,” he smiled and tried to turn the conversation. “I’m only thinking out loud.”

“You think one of them may be watching me? The stalker outside my apartment?”

He looked up in surprise, his eyes wide. His open mouth nearly made her laugh, but she would rather know his answer. “That’s … not what I was thinking at all.” As he spoke, his eyes drifted to the side to avoid her own.

Now she couldn’t help the derisive snort. “Come on, Oppa. You know I can read you just as well as you read me.”

The man across from her muttered something unintelligible, dropping his head into his hands. He held it there for a few moments before sitting straight again, but with a pinched expression on his lips. “I know you were warned how dangerous those guys are. I still can’t believe Hyung even let them in. He’s always been so careful to keep them away from their part of town that I’m honestly shocked. They’ve never been so bold before.” The tone of his voice told Sooyun that he was “thinking out aloud” again, probably not even aware that he’d said the words.

She swirled her beverage around to distract herself from the nervous way her words made her feel, like the seed of fear Jamie had planted was growing and trying to take root. She could feel the tendrils prodding at her upset stomach. Keeping quiet seemed like the best option since questions would only help the fear grow bigger and stronger.

But when she noticed how Jackson nervously fidgeted and wrung his hands she could no longer stand the quiet. “Are they like a gang or something?”

He breathed in and puffed out his cheeks. “It’s kind of similar to a gang but kind of worse.”

The roots suddenly curled around her heart. “What do you mean by that?”

“They’re more like … wild animals, I guess,” he said, an oddly placed smirk on his lips. “I wouldn’t say that they’re particularly feral, but nor are they harmless, but if you get on their bad side or do something they don’t like, then they turn vicious, like a pack of wolves. Everyone knows to stay away from them and be careful if you’re unfortunate enough to cross paths with them.”

She hummed, wondering if her discomfort was visible on the outside. She hoped that he was just exaggerating because if he was telling the truth, she would probably not be able to do Taehyung’s tattoo without her hands shaking.

“At least you don’t have to see them again,” he said, suddenly cheery. She was anything but as the roots of fear dug into her gut.

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

“I have a day off tomorrow.”

Sooyun looked up from her phone, staring at Jinyoung with wide, shiny eyes. He watched his own device, face blank as if he hadn’t just told her the best news she’d heard all day.

“Are you for real?” she asked, buzzing with barely contained excitement.

“Yeah.” A playful smile broke through his serious expression, eyes shifting toward her. “Wanna do something?”

She sat up on her knees and her phone slid off her lap onto the floor, Yugyeom still sending texts about the wasted teen they had to chase away because he was almost ready to fight when Jaebum refused to tattoo his *cough* junk *cough*. “Yeah! Let’s do something! What do you want to do? I’m game for anything,” despite the enthusiasm in her voice, she tried to play nonchalant.

He chuckled, cheeks crinkling beneath his eyes. “Movies or bowling?”

“Anything,” she responded with a grin so bright it could even blind a bat, unable to hold in her excitement any longer. “You choose since it’s your day off.”

“What if I want to buy you a frilly purple dress?”

She pouted. “Then I’ll burn it when you’re not looking.”

He snorted. “Fine. I’ll think of something else.”

Happy, she settled back into the cushions and grabbed her phone from the floor. But glancing at the top of the screen was a mistake because she was already late for work. “ _Shoot_!” she yelped and shot onto her feet, ignoring Jinyoung’s derisive laughter as she scrambled to collect her things and grab a coat.

“I’m working late, so pick up some dinner on your way home!” he called after her.

“Don’t work too hard, Oppa! I’m not letting you be sleepy on our day together!”

“You can’t stop me from sleeping in!”

“Challenge accepted!”

“No, that’s not –”

She slammed the door shut, giggling to herself as she fumbled down the steps of her building. She noticed Miss Soo giving a young mother an earful while her child slept fitfully in her arms. A part of Sooyun wanted to help her escape, but the tired smile the mother sent her way when their eyes met sent her on her way.

The afternoon was strangely cold, so Sooyun had brought her thick coat with a fur-lined interior. It felt incredible against her skin, making the walk much more enjoyable. Even the crowded bus ride wasn’t that bad with the silky-soft fur enveloping her. Yugyeom continued messaging her since his shift had already ended, and he was bored. They were mostly talking nonsense now, but it was always funny nonsense with him.

She giggled softly when he sent her a picture of Mark drooling in his sleep, cuddled with his huge stuffed bear. The poor man had apparently worked a graveyard shift and drifted off the moment his head hit the pillow. Her stop came up just as she was scolding her friend for disturbing his tired hyung. She kept her eyes peeled as she walked the distance from the bus stop to the store, not wanting a repeat of the night before. No one was around to bother her, but she was still afraid of someone sneaking up behind her.

Oddly enough, all of the store’s lights were switched on, but there was no one waiting in the office. Jamie could have been in the bathroom, but it still didn’t feel right – she would have left the new _“Be Back Soon”_ sign on the desk, but it was missing.

The chiming bell sounded even louder than normal in the quiet lobby, the music playing softly from the mounted Bluetooth speakers. Nothing could be heard from the back offices, just silence. The eerie stillness in a place that was usually so lively had her skin prickling nervously and those tendrils of fear growing longer and darker. She had half a mind to bolt out the door and head home before her fearful imagination manifested into something real and dangerous.

But she was scheduled for today; maybe the others were just late or playing some kind of prank on her.

“Hello?” she called. Her voice echoed, bouncing off the tile floors and dark walls, only making the emptiness more palpable. No one answered her and her stomach became a little queasy. If no one was there, then why was the front door unlocked? Her friends were much too cautious to make a mistake like that.

Something was really wrong, and she wasn’t sticking around to find out what. Just as she took her first step towards the exit, the obsidian door creaked open slowly and she spun on her heel, facing the man sauntering out from the hallway. The tall shape filled her with relief. “Oh, thank God! It’s just you, Jae –”

Se froze suddenly. Those roots of fear finally pierced through her.

It wasn’t Jae. It was Namjoon.

She felt something cold and heavy settle in her stomach and audibly gulped, just like in the cartoons. “Oh,” she said blankly, trying to remain composed despite the sirens going off in her head. “Wh-What are you doing here?”

His dimples dug deep into his cheeks as he grinned, their piercings making them seem much less important. “Well, hello to you too, Sooyun-ah.” He shut the door and stood with his hands behind his back. The relaxed stance made it seem like he belonged in the shop, but she needed to get him out quick. “We just dropped back to say hi, but it looks like no one’s here.”

She nodded, the heavy feeling turning to dread. Every instinct she had was telling her to run, but her feet stayed planted to the black tile floor as if glued down. She couldn’t let them take any of the store’s valuables. “Yeah,” she nervously replied. “I don’t know where they are right now, sorry.”

The tall man shook his head and his smile softened. “Don’t be sorry. Jeongguk really just wanted to see you; said you recommended a special brand of cream for new ink to Seokjin-hyung and wanted to ask you about it.”

“Okay,” Sooyun said. Her hands twitched anxiously where she held them in front of her – she had never spoken to Jeongguk aside from some formalities the day before, and definitely didn’t say anything to Seokjin about a new cream, but she had a sense that playing along was the smartest thing to do to make it through this situation. “Um, yeah, I know what he’s talking about. I – uh – I think I have some in my office. But, um, where is he?” she stuttered out the words pretty pathetically and hoped she sounded at least a little convincing.

Namjoon smiled like he found her tripping over her words adorable. “Right over there.”

She turned to the pay counter, where Namjoon had gestured. A small cry bubbled up in her throat when she saw Jeongguk sitting in the swivel chair behind the desk. He had _not_ been there when she came in, and the thought had her heart clenching harder. Had he been hiding back there?

“Yo.” He flashed a peace sign.

“Hi,” she returned, only offering a small wave. There was no doubt in her mind that things were about to get really, really bad. A million questions swirled in her mind, buzzing like angry bees. What were they doing here? How did they get in? Where were the other workers?

As the questions grew in number and the panic turned them darker and darker, they threatened to give her vertigo. Everything was yelling at her to run away, to call Jackson or Jaebum or anyone! But her body couldn’t react like her mind wanted her to. She was rooted in place by her own fear.

“Uh, well, I-I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” she slowly pointed at the door, eyes on the floor since she didn’t want to see the smirks on their faces when she stuttered. Surprisingly, neither of them moved. There was no sound of heavy boots against the tile or creaking of leather to indicate them walking to the door. Clearing her throat, she glanced up at Namjoon again. “Please.”

The tall man chuckled. “You’re so polite. But I’m afraid we have more business here, so we need to stay just a little longer.”

Her eyes grew frightfully wide. “I-I can’t let you stay inside the store, not while the manager isn’t here. Please leave and I can let you know when he comes back. He wouldn’t be happy if I allowed customers in without him knowing.”

Now, she heard Jeongguk’s boots pounding against the floor, coming closer to where she stood still. “He won’t be back for a while, right? Don’t worry about him,” he said smoothly as if he knew something she didn’t. Her back stiffened when he slid his muscly arm around her, his large bicep resting against her nape. He chuckled at how pale her face had gone. “Why are you so scared of us? We just came around to hang out. Can’t we get to know each other?”

“I th-thought,” she muttered, cogs turning lightning-fast in her brain. “I thought you wanted the ointment.”

_The ointment I’d never even mentioned before._

Jeongguk winced. “Oops. Sorry, Hyung. I messed up.”

“That’s fine, Gguk,” Namjoon said with a sigh. “No use prolonging the conversation anyway, right? Might as well get it over with.”

“Um …” voice growing even shakier and unsure, she tried to subtly tug herself free, but the boy had an iron grip on her. She had decided that her lift was infinitely more important than any of the items in the shop, so the best course of action was to make a run for it. “I’m just going to go home; my brother will be worried about me. Jus-Just make sure to close the door when you leave. I’ll see you around.”

Namjoon tiled his head with a frown. “We’re sorry about this, Sooyun-ah.”

Before she even had the chance to question him, Jeongguk’s arm tightened around her. She let out a short scream and tried to run away, but he pressed a smelly cloth against her lips and nose. Thrashing and kicking, she struggled against him, her screams kept quiet by the kerchief covering her face. Tears fogged her blurry vision and the last thing she saw was Namjoon waving an apologetic smile.

This was it.

This was where she died. 

And right before Jinyoung’s day off.

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

Jinyoung whistled softly to himself as he sauntered out to the back alley, a bag of trash lofted in his hand. The song was cut short by a loud yawn. He was nearing the end of his long shift at the convenience store and was more than ready to go home and get some sleep before spending a long day with Sooyun.

He smiled softly, imagining the bright look that would twinkle in Sooyun’s eyes when he told her he was taking her to a theme park the next day. He had been saving up to buy them tickets to Lotte World, and had the whole day planned out perfectly. He would take her on all the rides, buy her all the cotton candy and stuffed animals he could – even though she’d probably vehemently deny wanting a toy even after he bought it. She was cute that way.

The thought brought a small frown onto his face. Although she used to be quite spoiled, Sooyun had developed a very detached attitude towards him in the last few years. She would cling to him as a child and demand his attention, cutely stealing every free second he had. Of course, he loved it, showering her with affection and all the devotion he could offer, spoiling her absolutely rotten, but after their mother passed away, she changed. She became more closed off and rebellious, preferring to keep to her own devices instead of letting him take care of her. No longer would she allow herself to be coddled, detesting even the slightest touch from others, which broke his cuddly heart.

He slammed down the lid of the garbage canister. It was all their deadbeat father’s fault that Sooyun became so removed. Just remembering his face filled Jinyoung with anger.

At least they’d escaped him. He had no idea where they were, and they couldn’t care less about him. This was how it was meant to be.

After a deep breath, he glanced down at his watch. 10:57, just over an hour until it was time for him to go back home. Maybe he’d stop and pick up some donuts for breakfast in the morning, just to surprise Sooyun

Suddenly, there was a loud pop and a flash of blue light from behind him. Startled, he nearly knocked over the canister when he turned. “Hyung!”

Jaebum was there, hair standing on end as he stepped out of the portal of blue light. His eyes were wide as if he still wasn’t used to teleporting despite hundreds of years of practice. He quickly shook his head like a dog, smoothing his long hair back immediately.

“Ah, that never gets easier,” he stated with his hand resting against his back and bending forward to crack it. He looked up at Jinyoung and smiled sheepishly. “Hey.”

Jinyoung, who was still recovering from his hyung suddenly appearing from nowhere, blinked slowly. When his head caught up with his eyes, he frowned. “What are you doing here, Hyung?” he asked, tilting his head.

Jaebum coughed to clear his throat. “Well, it’s a little hard to say.”

The glaze over his eyes looked destressed, scared, and it made Jinyoung feel a little queasy. Something was wrong. For the strongest mage in Korean to look so frazzled, something had to be very, _very_ wrong.

“Spit it out.”

Sighing, he looked into the younger’s eyes and Jinyoung shivered. “Bangtan has Sooyun.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow my stories always end up with a protective older brother and a deadbeat dad 😅  
> Oh well, haha!  
> Enjoy!💕

Cars angrily honked their horns at Jinyoung as he bolted across the bust street. He didn’t bother waving at them or apologizing, too worried to think of anything but getting to the hospital. He huffed and puffed, sweat pouring down his brow and adrenaline pulsing through him. His heavy bag bounced up and down with each step and made the contents jostle awkwardly against his hip.

He had been forced to leave his university classes early when the call came. Of course, his professor was not happy when he packed up his books and charged out the door with the grace of a cross-eyed elephant. He hadn’t told anyone where he was going or why, he just needed to get there as fast as his feet could carry him. There were numerous calls from Jaebum and Jackson on his cell, asking where he was and why he ran out like that. He’d deal with those once he could catch his breath.

A loud bark startled him. He jumped away from the golden retriever and the young man walking it with whom he had come too close to colliding. He gave a half-hearted apology but didn’t wait around to hear a response. Because his body was now on autopilot, he hadn’t even realized he had entered the park, but knew he just had to cut straight through to make it to the hospital.

The pounding of his heart slowed when he saw the cross on the hospital through the buildings. He honestly could have cried.

He sprinted through the parking lot and in the sliding front door. He had hardly slowed down enough to avoid crashing into the reception desk. Panting heavily, he dug through his bag for his I.D. card, holding it out with a barely decipherable, “P-Park Soo-yu … S-Sooyun.”

The woman behind the large desk nodded and ripped her wide eyes away from the winded man to focus on checking the computer for Sooyun’s room number. “Um, she’s in room 4089, fourth floor.”

With hastily uttered gratitude, he took off once more, following the signs to the elevator. The ride up filled him with dread and anxiety. Seconds ticked by slowly enough to nearly drive him mad before the door finally pried open. He didn’t even wait for them to open completely before sprinting down the hall. He found the door to her room shut, so he restrained himself from pounding on it, instead lightly knocking while bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Finally, a nurse opened the door. He blinked owlishly at him for a moment. “Are you here to see someone?” he asked.

Jinyoung caught a glance into the room and noticed it was communal. “Sooyun. Park Sooyun. I’m her brother.”

The nurse looked him over before opening the door wide enough for him to enter. “She’s in the bed by the window,” he kindly pointed him towards a curtain drawn near the brightly lit window. Jinyoung struggled to keep his legs from shaking as he approached the green and white curtain. Faint beeping could be heard from the bed beside her, along with heavy breathing. Sooyun’s heartbeat was monitored as well, and stable from what he could hear. At least she was alive.

He had to steel himself for a moment before he could pull back the fabric. When he did, he struggled to keep form collapsing in relief. She looked alive and okay, despite her ashen face and bandaged body. Her eyes were closed in sleep, mouth slightly opened as her chest rose and fell slowly. The bandages tied around her head were bloody and thick. Jinyoung felt sick to his stomach just looking at her, and knowing it was their own father who had done this to her.

Taking a deep breath, he closed the curtain again she quietly approached his little sister. She looked too peaceful to have gone through the ordeal she had just over an hour before.

Jinyoung carefully took a seat on the stool beside her bed and rested his elbows on the mattress, being careful not to disturb the sleeping girl. He almost pulled back when her eyelids fluttered slightly, but her steady breathing was assurance that she was still resting peacefully. One of her hands stuck out from the thin blankets covering her body, pale fingered twitching. He smiled sadly and took hold of her hand while convincing himself over and over that being here with her was more important that destroying their father while he sat in that cell at the police station.

“Are you Park Sooyun’s guardian?”

Jinyoung turned around in surprise to face a tall man in a white coat. He was staring at the boy with hardened eyes that didn’t seem right on his soft face, and a bit scary on a doctor – how was this man supposed to comfort his patients? His stony expression could probably make children burst into tears on the spot. 

Another man stood to his side, dressed in a police uniform, badge proudly displayed on his chest. He was stockier than the other, eyes lighter and softer as well, and that helped ease some of the tension coming from the tall man. The two of them both looked young, not much older than Jinyoung himself, but very professional.

“Well,” the first man said a bit louder. “Are you?”

“Uh – Um, yes, I am,” Jinyoung hastily replied. “My name is Park Jinyoung. She is my little sister.”

The doctor didn’t reply, his mouth pressed into a firm line. “So, you are not her guardian?”

“No,” the young man said with a shake of his head. “Her only guardian is our father.” His face hardened in anger as he subconsciously gripped Sooyun’s small hand tight enough that his knuckles turned white. “But he’s the one that did this to her; I don’t want him anywhere near her.”

The doctor nodded but his eyes scanned his clipboard instead of looking at the siblings. This time, the policeman spoke. “Your father is still being detained, so don’t worry about that.”

Tapping a finger against the clipboard, the doctor sighed. His eyes looked up suddenly, burning into the boy. “Are you over twenty?”

“I recently turned twenty.”

A small smile snuck its way onto his placid face as he glanced at the officer, deep dimples appearing in his cheeks. “From now on, when someone asks you if you are her guardian, say yes.”

Jinyoung just blinked. It hadn’t occurred to him that Sooyun could be placed under his care now. Sure, he had considered it before, but it didn’t seem feasible that they could escape their father. Now, he supposed, they had a chance.

“Now, my name in Doctor Kim, and this is Officer Park. I was the surgeon in charge of stitching up your poor sister. We were able to stop the worst of the bleeding and remove all the glass from her head. There were some scratched on her sternum, arms, and neck. Most were superficial and easily fixed with some disinfectant and a few plasters. She only needed a few staples in her head and stitches for an eleven-centimeter gash on her ribs, two of which were broken in the struggle, but those should heal on their own with some rest and ice. She was lucky enough to get away without a concussion, but the trauma and sedatives may leave her a bit confused and upset when she wakes up. All-in-all, she should be tip-top in just a few weeks.”

The poor boy’s head spun with all the information. He wasn’t told the specifics on the phone, only that his father attacked Sooyun and sent her to the emergency room. The woman that had called him hadn’t said anything about glass or a blow to the head, or stitches. Now that he looked closer, he could see a large plaster peeking out from the neck of the hospital gown Sooyun wore.

“Seonsaengnim,” he said quietly, squeezing her hand again. “What happened? Just what did my father do to her?”

The two men looked surprised that he was asking, as if her should already know the answer, but softened when they realized the boy honestly didn’t know anything.

“You weren’t informed when they notified you?” A shake of Jinyoung’s head was all Officer Park needed. “I was involved in the investigation and arrest of your father. He and your sister had somehow gotten into an altercation that worried the neighbors enough to call us. When we arrived, your father had smashed a heavy glass bottle against her head, and she was unconscious. We arrested him without an issue and brough Miss Park here for treatment.”

Jinyoung nodded solemnly, running his fingers through his hair. His father had always had problems with his temper and struck him and his mother a few times before, but had never taken anything this far, especially not towards Sooyun. Even if he hated the man, it was still so strange to think he did something like this.

“Does your family have a history of violence?” Officer Park continued.

Jinyoung bit his lip, which was enough of an answer for the policeman.

“I see. Was this violence exclusively directed at Sooyun?”

“No,” he shook his head. “Um, my mother and I were victims too, and after her death, he turned his anger towards Sooyun. But it was never physical towards her – _never_ – it was all more the things he said, and, like, manipulation. Something had to have made him snap for him to do this.”

He felt the shame bubbling in his tummy, trying to crawl up his throat in an anguished scream. He had ignored it for so long and now everyone he loved had to deal with the consequences. _God_ , he was such a terrible brother, son, protector …

He dropped his head in the hand not holding Sooyun’s, shoulders heaving with a sorrowful sigh. Guilt fell heavy on his back, crushing his spirit and his pride as a brother.

A sturdy hand rested on his head and gently ruffled his hair. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up, kid. It’s not your fault,” Officer Park offered, a soft smile on his kind face. Jinyoung’s heart did not feel any lighter at the encouragement, but he appreciated it.

The officer took a notepad from his pocket and began scribbling down some notes while the doctor took a look at Sooyun. After a moment or two, the policeman sighed. “Do you an approximate idea of when the abuse began?”

“Four years ago,” he answered. “That’s when our mother dies. Sooyun was thirteen.”

Both men hummed, displeased with the information. Jinyoung recognized the looks on their faces – the look of pity for Sooyun and disgust for their father. His family often gave them the same look at get-togethers. Of course, the look was all they gave, never any help.

Suddenly, he felt the hand he was holding grip back. Shocked, the three men turned to Sooyun, whose eyes were slightly opened, but still glazed over. She groaned sleepily and shifted with a sharp wince.

“Sooyun-ah!” Jinyoung gasped, leaning close to her and grasping her cold hand in both of his. “Sooyun-ah, thank God you’re okay.”

“Oppa,” she moaned, her voice sounding rough and painful. “I’m thirsty.”

He glanced at Doctor Kim, asking permission to give her a drink of water. He gave a slight nod that had Jinyoung springing into action. He grabbed the water bottle they had placed on the table beside her bed and gently helped her tilt her head forward to drink. When a third of the water was gone, he laid her back down to relax.

“Does anything hurt?” he asked softly.

She nodded, pointing to her head. 

“The pain should be dulled with the sedatives,” said Doctor Kim as he tapped his pen against his lips. “She may need more to help her rest. I’ll speak to a nurse about it.”

“Yeah,” Officer Park nodded and put away his notepad. “We’ll leave the two of you to talk for a while. Let us know if anything comes up, and we will contact you should we find anything after further investigation and interrogation with your father.”

“That you both,” Jinyoung stood to bow deeply, showing his upmost respect for the men. They bowed in return and filed out of Sooyun’s curtained cubicle. When Jinyoung heard the door closing, he let out a relieved breath and sunk down onto the bed beside his sister. “I was so scared,” he admitted. “But I promise you that I won’t let him near you again. I’ll keep you safe.”

The girl groaned. “It wasn’t Appa.”

He frowned. “What?”

“It wasn’t Appa.”

“Sooyun, I don’t really understand?”

She pouted and huffed weakly, looking frustrated. “Appa was different. It was-wasn’t him.”

“‘Different’ how?” he asked, trying to seem convinced, even though it probably the meds talking.

“He …” she licked her lips and swallowed nervously. “He was a monster.”

His eyebrows shot up his forehead. A monster? Those drugs must have been strong.

“His eyes were black,” she whispered as if it were a secret. “His – His teeth were so long, and he had claws.” She pointed to her stomach, where the doctor had said her deepest scratch was. “They were so sharp, and they stung, Oppa, like poison.”

“Oh, Sooyun,” he said pitifully, stroking her hair. The poor girl must have been so traumatized that she created this creature to replace her father, the real monster. She didn’t want to believe that he would do something like this to her. Maybe she imagined this monster when he attacked him or their mother too. Jinyoung should have gotten that bastard arrested years ago. “You’re still tired. Get some rest, and we’ll talk when you feel a little better, okay?”

She frowned suspiciously. “You don’t believe me.”

He shook his head. “I believe you, but I think you need more sleep.”

Sooyun petulantly ripped her hand away from him. “I want to sleep by myself.”

“You want me to leave?” he asked incredulously. She nodded, eyes closed tight. Even though he wanted to stay, he couldn’t deny her wish. “Okay, Sooyun. I’ll be outside in the hallway. I love you.” He lightly pecked her forehead before standing.

She whined and shooed him with her hand.

It was obvious he had hurt her feelings by not believing her, so he shut the curtain behind him and trudged out the door into the hospital hallway.

His world felt like it had been turned on its head. Despite the abuse they all had to suffer through, Jinyoung couldn’t find the courage to confront his father or ask for help, even though he was there to hear the horrible names he called Sooyun. He hated the way he would tear her apart and leave her crying and broken, her self-esteem tattered and trampled upon, but he just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t stand up to him. And it was all his fault that his sister now lay in a hospital bed.

If only he had done something, then maybe that bastard would have been behind bars years ago.

“I’m such an idiot,” he groaned, throwing his head back against the wall in despair.

“I agree.”

His head jerked up to lock eyes with the man walking towards him. He frowned, confused. “Jaebum-hyung?”

His hyung sighed heavily as he came to a stop. “Jinyoung, we need to talk,” his black eyes shifted nervously to the side. “About your father. And about Sooyun.”

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

The world was dangerous, more so than most people could imagine.

Somehow, Jinyoung found himself and Sooyun plunged directly into the midst of it all, and there was no way out. Everywhere he went, he saw the monsters. He noticed how they tried to blend in with the average crowd around them, hiding their true identities and intents. But, somehow, he could see through the disguises and magic. And he hated it.

He hated looking at what seemed like a normal man just traipsing down the street, only to see a dokkaebi staring back, the devilish creature giving a smile and tipping his hat, vanishing into nothing without anyone batting an eye. Or to notice one of a gumiho’s nine tails flick out of a woman’s coat to ease a cramp.

But that was how magic worked: Once you knew it was there, there was no way to ignore it. He had never understood the expression, “ignorance is bliss” until Jaebum opened his eyes to what surrounded him that day in the hospital. He hated him a little bit for it.

Okay, he didn’t _hate_ his hyung, but … well, maybe a little.

Especially right now.

Teleporting never failed to make him sick – the swirling shades of blue and whites and yellows and red had his stomach tossing and turning and sent bile up his throat until it was pressed against his tongue. Oh, how he despised that feeling, like he was being thrown upside down and side to side, squeezing the air from his lungs and turning him inside out.

Unlike Jaebum, Jinyoung couldn’t stick the landing, crawling out on his hands and knees, heaving and sputtering. He noticed Jaebum had transported the two of them to his shop, right inside of his office. The employees of Def Soul and Jackson’s pack were waiting on the couches. Their posture looked like they were trying to seem relaxed despite the obvious tension in the air.

“Couldn’t we have taken the bus or something?” he demanded from the floor. “I would have even paid for a taxi!”

“Stop whining,” Jackson humorlessly as he helped Jinyoung stand back up. “We have business.”

The mood instantly turned sour.

“So, is anyone going to tell me the details?” he asked flatly. No one answered. “Where were all of you?” He studied the dark faces in the room, looking for some sort of sign, but they were stone faced, concealing the truth. Jinyoung knew they were all trained to keep secrets well, but it never failed to make him boil. Just as he was about to burst and demand someone tell him, Jaebum piped up.

“Please, sit down, Jinyoung,” the mage spoke lowly, his voice leaving no room for argument. Begrudgingly, Jinyoung obliged, taking a seat between Mark and Youngjae.

It took a moment for someone to speak again, so Jackson began. “We were attacked. I had stopped by when Namjoon and the younger guy came in, and they made up some sort of lie – God, I don’t even remember what it was – and we were stupid enough to let them in. When we weren’t paying attention, they … damn.” He growled and harshly raked his fingers through his hair.

Jae finished the explanation for him. “They ambushed us. Before we could blink, Jeongguk had us all knocked out and tied up in Jamie’s office. He’s so fast, even for a Risen. When Yugyeom sniffed out something wrong, he rushed over and helped us out. But the time he got here, though, Sooyun had come and gone. Bangtan has her. We’re so sorry.”

Bangtan. The name Jinyoung had learned to fear. He knew they were near, had been for nearly a year, but he hadn’t expected them to be so bold. Territories were plainly defined in Seoul, and for their group to attack on Jaebum’s land – land protected by both the mage and Jackson’s pack – had been unthinkable.

His heart fell to the pit of his stomach, heavy like a stone. His nightmare was coming true. Three years of protecting her, of holding her close and doing everything he could to keep her safe from harm had slipped down the drain. It felt like a part of his chest had been ripped out and stomped on.

“How could you let this happen?” he growled, head in his hand. He had entrusted Sooyun to Jaebum and the pack, only for something like this to take her away from him? They had sworn to him that they would protect her, especially from Bangtan.

Jaebum sighed through his nose. “We have no excuse,” he said, and the shame was evident. “We let our guard down because they hadn’t tried to do anything to us when they came yesterday. We weren’t careful enough.”

“You’re positive they took her?” he asked, hopeful that maybe she had run away.

Jaebum looked to Yugyeom, who was paler than usual. The younger man nodded. “I am. They heard everything and I could smell the chloroform when I came in.

“Why didn’t you stop them?” Jinyoung once more growled at Jaebum.

“They carried belladonna,” said Jamie. She leaned her hip against the desk, arms crossed over her chest, unreadable. “It drained his powers.”

“I’m still not at full strength,” the mage confirmed the claim. He held up his hands, a bright spark dancing around his fingers before sizzling out after only a few seconds. Jinyoung could see the sweat on his forehead; he was really giving his all.

Jinyoung knew he couldn’t blame him, or anyone else. Bangtan was crafty and dangerous, and no doubt used dirty tricks to overpower the employees. Belladonna, despite being a beautiful flower, was classified as a poison for mages that drained their powers completely, potent enough to kill if used correctly. It was outlawed in the magic community, as dangerous to mages as kryptonite to Superman, and Jaebum wouldn’t have been able to fight against it, no matter how powerful he was.

He turned to the pack, namely the alpha. “Can you smell her?”

Jackson sighed, shaking his head. “I can’t. Somehow, they covered their scent. Yugyeom can still faintly smell her, but not strongly enough to track.”

Nodding, Yugeom scratched at his nose. “I tried, but I’ve only been able to trace it for a few kilometers before it fades away. They’ve left the city, and it’s been so long since I’ve lived in the forest that I’m having trouble distinguishing the scents from each other.”

“Then what do we do?” said Jinyoung, dejected.

Jaebum heaved a sigh. “We can’t go after her until Gyeom finds our heading.”

“So, we just sit here while Bangtan is out there with my sister?!” Jinyoung exploded, shooting up from the couch and baring his teeth in anger. “We have to do something! I can’t just wait; we need to go find her now!”

Cautiously, Jackson placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. He turned to the alpha wolf as if he were about to strike him, but the look in Jackson’s eyes told him to cool off. “This isn’t helping anything, Jinyoung. You need to calm down while we do what we can to find her.”

“But we don’t have a lot of time,” Jinyoung argued, a bit softer now that he wasn’t as panicked. “What if she gets to her first? If Hora finds her … God, I can’t …” he covered his face, shoulders heaving softly.

“She won’t,” Jaebum said matter-of-factly. “Bangtan’s spent their lives running from her, they won’t let her anywhere near Sooyun.”

“How can you be so sure?” asked BamBam, speaking up for the first time. “What if they decide to hand her over?”

Jae shook his head. “You know what’s in the box. Why would they give Sooyun up only for it to be opened? They would do anything to keep it closed.”

“That’s true,” Jaebum nodded. He walked over to Jinyoung and placed a comforting hand on his head. “They’ll keep her safe from Hora while we track them. There’s nothing to worry about for now.”

Jinyoung gave him a nasty stare.

“Okay, there’s a few things to worry about, but not that.”

“Yugyeom,” Jinyoung said pointedly, eager to stop talking and start doing. “How long will it take to find a trail?”

The younger man scratched his chin, shaking his head slowly. “I have faith in my skills, but it’s been so long since I’ve had to start form almost nothing. It could be days and kilometers before I sense her.”

“We have faith in you too,” Jackson assured him, clapping him on the back with an encouraging smile. “He’s got the best nose of any wolf I’ve ever met.”

“That’s a lone wolf for you,” Mark nudged Yugyeom with his elbow.

He frowned. “Don’t call me that, Hyung. I’m not a lone wolf anymore.”

“What can I do in the meantime?” Jinyoung demanded. “I can’t just sit idly by; I need to help; I need to do _something_.”

Jaebum and Jackson glanced at one another, lips tightly pressed together. The elder’s shoulder rose and fell before giving Jinyoung a sorry look. “Pack, I suppose. Once we’re on our way, we won’t be back for a while.”

“Where will we go?” asked BamBam. “Hyung?”

“Do you remember where Junsu-hyung’s old packhouse is?” Jaebum asked Jackson. The latter nodded. “Great. The barriers will keep us safe from the others. I’ve gotten into contact with him, and he said we can stay there as long as we need to – it could be months until Bangtan finally gives up,” he groaned and rubbed his forehead. “But we can’t risk it. Everyone, we’re moving out tonight. And Gyeom, you keep your nose in the air.”

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

Something didn’t feel right. This bed was too comfortable, too fluffy. The sheets smelled like roses instead of dank and cheap fabric softener, a scent that was both pleasant and severely unnerving. Despite the strange new smell, Sooyun’s tired mind had her nuzzling further into the flowery fabric, purring softly. It was soft and cool against her skin.

But the sheets should feel old and scratchy, not sleek and buttery. Her throat should be sore the first thing in the morning, eyes itchy and hardly rested. Instead, she seemed to have woken up from the best sleep of her life. Considering she was spending the day with Jinyoung, good sleep was a godsend.

Oh! It was Jinyoung’s day off! She needed to get up and get as much time with him as possible! But that would tear her away from this cloud she was so comfortably enveloped in. Maybe it was worth it. She could always come back to it tonight.

She sighed, trying hard to wake herself up further and find out why she was suddenly sleeping in a bed fit for a princess, but the plush blanket wrapped tightly around her and tucked beneath her chin made it so difficult. She never wanted out of this bed, or this hazy, happy, rested feeling. She was floating and she refused to come down.

That is, until it hit her: She had no recollection of walking home or having been picked up. When had she even fallen asleep?

Finally, she forced her eyes open, slowly as to not be blinded by the light she could see from behind her eyelids. The moment the bright morning sun hit her, a sudden migraine struck, like a spike being driven into her skull. Bright, colorful spots danced aggressively, painfully around her eyeballs, brain pounding angrily against her skull as if trying to break free. With a disgruntled groan, Sooyun threw her hands over her eyes to block out the offensive light from the two skylights right above her head.

Skylights. Her room did not have skylights.

Like a bucket of ice-cold water being dumped over her head, Sooyun realized this was not home.

Startled, she sat straight up in the bed, drawing the covers up to her chest and clutching them in fear. Though the headache persisted, she ignored it, too horrified by her surroundings to give a damn.

Her apartment walls were a dreadful beige. Why were these walls powder blue? Why were there two enormous skylights looking down on her?

The taupe carpet looked nice and plush, unlike the cheap hardwood she was used to. The deep, woody color contrasted with the baby blue walls and comforter she was white knuckling. Besides the skylights, there was another large window to her right. Furniture of the same two colors decorated the small room, giving Sooyun the sense that someone must have lived there and styled it before she came. That and the pure white orchid on the windowsill gave her that sick feeling with which she was slowly growing familiar.

Curious, she drew the blanket back and swung her legs onto the floor, toes squishing in the plush rug. A shiver ran up her legs at the sensation, and she pulled herself up until she was standing straight. Although her legs were a bit shaky, she was able to pad her way around the small room, examining the interesting items lying about. There wasn’t much, but enough to keep her occupied for a moment; a few books she had never heard of laid on the blue and taupe padded bench at the foot of the bed – someone was very dedicated to this aesthetic – a small, blue side table was pushed between the bed and the wall, covered with sweet little trinkets.

The throbbing in her head made Sooyun wince again and only when she passed by the full-length mirror did she recall what had happened.

The dark bags beneath her eyes weren’t enough to give it away, but that thing around her left wrist certainly was. A thick piece of leather was tightly wrapped around her wrist and clasped with a lock that pulled heavily on her arm.

Everything suddenly came back – she had been kidnapped by Namjoon and Jeongguk when she came into work. They must have taken her here and put this _thing_ on her. Terrified, she ran her fingers over the leather, feeling just how sturdy it was. What did they plan to do with her that warranted something like this? Had they sold her? Was this some kind of mark of the person who had bought her?

Panic, disgust, and bile rose from her stomach and manifested as a short scream. She clawed at the item and tried to rip it away, gasping and struggling with the tough material in vain. Again, she shouted for help, thinking someone, anyone, might hear her and save her. 

Suddenly, the door to the room slammed open. Sooyun gasped and spun around, pressing herself against the opposite wall as if it would protect her.

In the doorway stood Hoseok. His eyes were fiery and set upon the girl in an impatient glare so different than his cheery grin she’d come to know. The intensity of it made her tremble, but she thought that if she dared look away, he would pounce.

“Be quiet,” he barked impatiently. “God, you’re loud enough to shake the entire house!”

Sooyun swallowed hard. “Where am I?”

He shook his head. “You don’t need to know that.”

“But –”

He held up his hand, sharply shutting her up. “Don’t question it. You don’t need to know. Just stop screaming, and someone will come get you when dinner’s ready.”

She was about to protest that she didn’t want dinner, she just wanted to know what was going on, but he cut her off again by banging the door shut forcefully enough to rattle the mirror on the wall.

Breathing hard, Sooyun lost feeling in her legs, shakily sliding to the floor and curling up into a ball. She prayed desperately to wake up from this dream.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filler chapter to build suspense :))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays!!  
> I was kind of putting this off because of Christmas and New Years, but it was also because I'm writing other things right now and it wasn't at the forefront of my mind, but I'll do my best to post each Thursday!  
>  Enjoy! <3

Hoseok had left an hour ago, and Sooyun was still tightly curled against the powder blue wall, clutching the thick cuff around her wrist, and tugging at it to no avail. She’d tried to break it, or pull it over her hand, but it was unrelenting and tight, with barely enough room to fit her pinky finger between the leather and her skin. Dejected, she smacked the wall with her open palm and kicked her feet. She was so frustrated she felt like she could scream.

Tears bubbled up to the surface and spilled over her cheeks as she imagined how desperately Jinyoung must have been searching for her. When she was six and ran away to a nearby park, Jinyoung had run the entire length of their hometown, yelling her name and asking every stranger in sight if they’d seen her. He hadn’t even bothered to put on a coat and caught a cold, after searching in the snow for over four hours. She’d felt awful and nursed him back to health with her mother’s help. That was the first time she had ever seen him so scared and had sworn never to make him worry again … but now she couldn’t help it.

The stakes had been raised from that time so long ago, and he wasn’t going to find her here – the view outside the windows was nothing but a thick forest, with trees looming high above the home, standing like bars to Sooyun’s prison; menacing, threatening bars that dared her to try to escape, to see how far she would get before they trapped her again. It wasn’t anything like the forests she’d gone to on hikes with her family, they were so much darker and more unnerving. She had a sinking feeling she would never, ever be found. Bangtan had her surrounded, and she wondered just how long they planned to keep her.

And why was she even here in the first place?

She slowly stood up from her place tucked tightly against the wall, face still wet and sticky from tears and snot. It felt gross and crusty, so she wiped them away with her sleeve, wrinkling her nose at the dark spots it left on her jacket. On shaky legs, she wandered the room. The window had a large padlock attached, much too thick to even conceive of breaking through. She wouldn’t be able to get out that way, even if she somehow found a way to unlatch it or broke through the thick glass – it was at least a forty-foot drop, a risk that she wasn’t willing to take. She couldn’t run away on broken legs.

Frantically, Sooyun checked every vent, every crack in the floor or wall, even the skylights. One of the only doors in the room led to a small, tasteful half-bath, and the other to what she assumed was the rest of her prison-house. Hoseok had come through that door to scold her, and he had locked it after he left, so she knew there was no point in trying to open it again.

Unfortunately, the room was airtight; she couldn’t even unscrew the bolts on the vents. None of the corners or baseboards had any signs of damage, the bathroom was spotless as well, and no escape she tried bore any fruit. It seemed she was trapped indefinitely.

With a huff, Sooyun threw herself onto the bed, shoving her face into the stupidly plush pillows. More frustrated tears stung the backs of her eyes. 

She jumped and turned around when the door suddenly unlocked with a loud clack. Her eyes focused on the shiny nickel handle as it turned, heart tap-dancing in her chest.

Taehyung entered and her vision tunneled on him, that cold fear shooting through her once again, an unwelcomingly familiar feeling.

The man looked her over with eyes that were just as emotionless as they’d been when she had first met him. His jaw was tightly set, brows furrowed. “You’re still crying.” He said it not as a question, just stating the blatantly obvious.

Sooyun didn’t respond. She didn’t think he deserved a response, not after trapping her here like an animal. He didn’t intimidate her like he did before, like she had expected him to. Instead, she felt anger burn away the fear.

She turned her head, sniffing up the leftover snot from her tears.

“Are you okay?” She could sense the feigned concern in his voice. He was a good actor, but not good enough to fool a cynic like her. “Did you get hurt?”

He was gifted with her most scathing glare. “Do you care?”

“I don’t encourage hurting women.”

“Really?” she scoffed. “But you encourage kidnapping?”

His eyes rolled in annoyance. Instead of answering, he marched towards her. _Now_ she felt the fear returning. She pushed her body back on the bed, pulling her feet away from the edge where he could grab them. Still unsure why she was here or what they wanted with her, Sooyun had to assume every scenario was possible, no matter how unsavory.

“Woah! No, no, no,” he said quickly when he took notice of the terror on her face, stopping in his tracks and throwing his hands up, big eyes growing even bigger. “That’s not what you’re here for. We don’t do that.”

She didn’t relax. There was no way she could believe that. Jackson warned her that this group was worse than a gang, more like wild animals; for all she knew, the seven boys could be murderers, thieves, traffickers or even worse. She couldn’t let her guard down even for a second.

Taehyung sighed and hung his head, hands on his hips, looking disappointed. “Don’t believe me?” he asked.

“Of course not,” she spat, but flinched when he pinned her with a dark look.

“Listen,” he wet his lips before speaking. “We’re not going to hurt you unless you provoke us. We not going to do anything like – ugh – _that_ to you. We’re not sick or twisted enough to do those kinds of things to anyone, much less a defenseless girl. You’re here for a reason, and that’s all you need to know. One of us will always be outside this door” – he pointed to the main door which was still wide open – “and if you try to escape, we will use force to bring you back here.”

Sooyun cringed and curled further into herself, biting her lip.

_Comforting me by threatening me … this guy is a master of delicacy._

He groaned and let his shoulders droop. “Whatever, I don’t care what you think. Seokjin-hyung told me to bring you down for dinner.” He leaned over the bed to grab her arm in his huge hands. “He doesn’t like people making him wait to eat, especially when he cooks. You shouldn’t take too long.”

She wanted to kick him in the balls and jump out the window, anything to stop him from touching her. Instead, she just ripped her arm away from him, giving a glare that she hoped looked more angry than scared.

His brow furrowed further the more annoyed he was getting, but she was a little sister; she was born to annoy people. “If you aren’t going to come willingly, I will throw you over my shoulder. I know you don’t want to be touched, so I suggest you get your ass moving.”

How she despised being treated like a sulky child. But, giving into him was better than being carried like a sack of potatoes. With a sneer of disgust, she shoved off the bed and stomped past him but froze when he threw his arm out in front of her. Swallowing dryly, she glanced up at his disapproving glare.

“ _What?_ ” she barked, with a slight quaver in her voice.

One of his strong brows quirked along with the corner of his lips. “You’re staying right here beside me. I don’t trust you not to run away.”

Resentfully, Sooyun stuck to his side as they trudged down a dark, spiral staircase to another door. Outside this was a long hall brightly lit with elegant light fixtures hanging on the grey walls. The soft color and delicate, silver trimmings and modern decor lining the hall gave it a homey feel, despite the fact that Sooyun was being held prisoner. 

Her feet pattered lightly on the black and white rug running the length of the corridor. For the first time, she noticed her boots were missing. They must have taken them when she was asleep. She blushed at the pink kitten socks she had put on that morning – wrong day to wear the gag-gift from Yugyeom, but she hadn’t done her laundry in a while.

She peered up at Taehyung, who was standing much too close for comfort. He didn’t spare her a glance, focusing instead on his cellphone with the faint light illuminating his face. Even so, she knew he was still paying close attention to her and he’d react the second she made a move to walk away. Even if she stopped to fix her sock, he’d probably spur her on with a push, not looking away from his screen for even a moment. She felt fear overpower anger once more the longer she studied him.

Finally, he looked at her from beneath heavy-lidded eyes. “Something to say?” he deadpanned.

“When do I get to know why I’m here?” she asked in a voice that was much less brave than before.

He smirked lightly. “You don’t need to.”

She squinted. “But don’t I deserve to? How am I supposed to stay here without issue if I don’t even know what you’re going to do with me?”

“All you need to know is that you’re going to be safe here.”

No. Not good enough. She wouldn’t accept vague answers anymore. “I was safe at home. How the hell are _you_ going to keep me safer than my own brother can?”

He huffed a small laugh. “You weren’t safe with him; he couldn’t get rid of that stalker on the roof. Almost an entire year, and the creeper is still there, watching from outside your little apartment.”

Sooyun skidded to a stop. Taehyung followed, turning back in confusion, not pushing her on like she thought he would.

How did he know about the guy outside their apartment? He couldn’t possibly know just out of the blue, someone had to have said something. Maybe one of her friends blurted it out when he was in the shop? But …

What if the man was actually someone in Bangtan, and that’s how he knew?

Face scrunched into a frown, she tried to ask him. “How do –”

“There you are!” 

Again, Sooyun flinched when Seokjin’s shrill voice rang through the hallway. The tall, broad-shouldered man came sauntering towards the two, a large, out of place smile on his handsome face. She felt sick that even the man she had thought of as an angel when she’d first laid eyes on him was tainted now, a heartless kidnapper too, just like Namjoon and Jeongguk and Taehyung. All seven of the men had done this to her, not only the two that dragged her here.

“I was just about to come get you,” he sang in a chipper voice that struck more fear in Sooyun than Taehyung’s somber timbre. “Tae, you’re so slow that the others started threatening to eat without either of you. Lucky, I have Yoongi keeping control, but I’m not so sure how long he can hold himself back.” He laughed. Sooyun blanched at the sound.

His eyes drifted from Taehyung to her terrified face. For a moment, she thought his gaze looked soft, almost sweet, but shook the thoughts from her head. No one in this house was sweet, they were evil. 

He tilted his head, eyes wide in confusion. “Oh, are you feeling all right, Sooyun-ah? Have you been crying?”

She didn’t nod, so Taehyung answered for her. “She was scared. Apparently, Namjoon-hyung and Gguk weren’t as gentle as they planned to be.”

Seokjin pursed his lips in a small frown and made a noise of pity. “Aww, so sorry for that. We wanted to do things delicately, but plans don’t always work out the way we want, do they? But we’ll make it up to you over supper!” The twinkle returned to his face as his arm clung to her shoulders. She flinched, but he didn’t seem to hear, so he just kept it there and dragged her further on. “You like japchae, right? I swear, this’ll be the best meal you’ve ever had! You see, I’m kind of an expert in the kitchen –”

His animated voice was drowned out by her spinning mind. His hand was warm and uncomfortable resting against her upper arm and holding tight, as if they’d been friends for years. His peppy personality was the total opposite of Taehyung’s bored and brooding one, warm and welcoming instead of cold. These boys had a dynamic that made her dizzy.

She was brought down two flights of stairs with his hand around her shoulders, the man jabbering on and on about his apparently legendary cooking skills. But she doubted anything she put into her stomach would stay down for long, not with fear twisting in her gut like an angry snake. Since she’d awoken, she had an unnaturally seasick feeling that she couldn’t shake. Her nerves were probably frayed to the point of no return – all she wanted to do was go back to bed and stay asleep forever.

But the loud gurgle her stomach unleashed betrayed her.

Seokjin laughed lightly. “Hungry?” She shook her head with a soft pout. “Well, I’d expect you to be after being asleep for almost an entire day.”

“A whole day?!” She would have found the way Seokjin leapt at her outburst funny if she weren’t stunned herself. An entire day? It made sense, and the thought had crossed her mind, but _still!_! Hearing the confirmation out loud was something else entirely.

“Yes,” the man took a stance as if he were coaxing a wild animal closer after it swiped its claws at him. “You were out cold. I warned Jeongguk not to use so much chloroform, but the shithead probably didn’t listen, as usual.”

She’d been here for _twenty-four hours_. Jinyoung had probably put out a missing person alert already, with half of the Seoul police force probably looking for her right now. The thought of professionals searching for her should have brought comfort, but instead, her stomach compressed, as if there were a black hole in her belly that was swallowing her up from the inside. This shouldn’t be happening – this was crazy!

As luck would have it, she looked up as she stepped off the last stair with Seokjin and Taehyung and there, in all its glory, was the front door. The oak portal looked thick and sturdy, small windows of painted glass framing it on either side, giving her a glorious view of the forest. She wanted to run, force herself out of Seokjin’s grip and plow through the door, the trees, and everything standing between her and home. Without realizing, she tugged on his arm when she made a small step towards the door, instead of to the left where he was leading her.

Instantly, she was yanked back, not aggressively, but hard enough to have her nearly tripping over her feet. Seokjin looked down at her, slight irritation writ across his brow. Then, he wiped it away with a smile, as if the harsh look never tainted his soft visage. “No, no. You don’t go out there; it’s much too dangerous for little girls.”

_Ooooh, he did not._

Her nostrils flared in anger. “Don’t you dare call me a little girl, you old man!” A lie, but she had her pride. She knew for a fact that he could crush her into dust if he wanted.

A sudden laugh from an adjacent room broke her out of her sudden rage. Seokjin, who was taken aback, blinked slowly three times before he seemed to come back to himself. Taehyung tried to hide his snort with his hand.

“Hyung! Hyung! I like her! She’s sitting beside me!” an excited voice yelled from the other room.

Seokjin frowned sourly. He tugged to get Sooyun moving again, this time with less of a spring in his step. She thought she heard him mutter under his breath: “I’m not an old man. Did no one teach this brat to respect her elders?”

The group of three rounded the corner to the left and came face-to-face with the rest of Bangtan all gathered around a long table. It was an elegant, modern dining room and was beautifully decorated with an adjacent kitchen, but she hardly noticed with five pairs of dark eyes suddenly zeroed in on her. Her mouth felt like she’d been sucking on cotton as she stared back at them.

Namjoon smiled warmly. “Hello, Sooyun. How are you feeling after getting some sleep?” His voice was full of innocence and deceitfully syrupy sweetness, as if he hadn’t been the one to trick her. Even now, she was tempted to believe his dimpled grin.

But she steeled her nerve, bit her cheek, and narrowed her eyes into a hateful glare.

He took the hint and slunk back in his chair. A few of the boys snickered.

“Come on,” Seokjin said softly and led her to towards two empty chairs on the far side of the table. She sat squished between his Pacific Ocean shoulders and Jeongguk’s bulky build. How comfy.

She turned to look behind her, having noticed before the large windows, through which she could see a large back yard. It was spacious and incredibly green, reaching far beyond the house to a wall of trees that blocked any light from the forest. She saw a small swimming pool with a nice deck, and a few more fun activities set up here and there.

“Looks good, huh?” Jeongguk brought her attention back to the table.

Set before her was a mouth-watering feast of japchae, kimchi, chicken, meat, fishcakes, fresh rice – enough food to feed two small families. She hadn’t seen such a delicious spread in years. After living on takeout and instant ramyeon for so long, Sooyun struggled not to drool at the smell. Even with her nausea, she had a feeling she’d force this food down until she burst.

It was like ravenous lions were set free from their cages the moment Seokjin sat down, sending all the boys into a feeding frenzy. Seven pairs of hands started grabbing at everything in sight, the boys attached to them shouting and scrambling for their favorite dishes. They stacked their plates high, only to quickly devour it all and dive back in for more. Sooyun had never seen a wolf pack eat, but she suspected it would be something like this.

She slunk back in her chair, further away from the flurry of chopsticks and discarded bones. This one dinner could traumatize her for the rest of her life.

“Aren’t you gonna eat?” Jimin asked, cheeks stuffed like a hamster.

She quickly shook her head, wincing when Jeongguk accidentally bit into a chicken bone, snapping it in half.

“Aww, poor thing is nervous,” Seokjin cooed. He put down his own chopsticks to stack her plate with her own, asking her every so often what she disliked, what she wanted more of, etc. Once he thought she had enough, he set the plate back down before Sooyun, who was stunned by the mountain of food. There was no way she could finish all of it. “Go on,” Seokjin pushed. “Eat.”

Afraid of offending him, she did as he said. The second the japchae touched her tongue she tasted ambrosia. A second without her mouth full was much too long. Now she understood why the boys were so ravenous. Before she knew it, all the food on her plate gone. She stared down at the clean dish for a moment, contemplating whether or not she should stop now or have seconds and let the button on her shorts pop.

Someone chuckled.

She looked up with a piece of baby spinach still stuck to her lip. Across the table, Jimin and Yoongi were looking at her, smirks on their faces. When she furrowed her brow and cocked her head, they just laughed louder.

“Cute,” Jimin murmured.

She frowned deeply at him, unamused by his snide comment. He just cocked his eyebrow, smirk growing annoyingly wide. Just when she was about to tell him to stuff it, she sensed someone else watching her. Hoseok was staring with eyes so dark they could hold the night, much different than the bubbly energy he had shown before. She felt small and vulnerable beneath his gaze, small droplets of sweat forming at her hairline. He glared at her for a few more seconds, before returning to his meal.

“Are you feeling alright?” Seokjin asked. “You look sick.”

Sooyun quickly shook her head. “I don’t want to be here.”

“Oh, do you need to go to bed?” his innocent voice annoyed her.

“Yeah,” she muttered through clenched teeth.

“I’ll take her,” Hoseok volunteered. She turned wide eyes on him, scared of the sudden smile the man had stretched across his face.

Namjoon nodded. “I think that would be best.”

“I can take her,” Jeongguk interjected, setting his chopsticks down with a clack. “I’m the first watch anyway.”

“No, it’s okay,” said Hoseok, trying to placate the younger man. “I’m finished eating already. Come now, Sooyun.” He spoke in an unnervingly stable voice as he stood from the table, eyes on the girl. The way he looked through her had her shivering, but she couldn’t protest when Seokjin pushed her up by the small of her back.

“Goodnight,” the eldest smiled. The others parroted him as she and Hoseok made their way out of the dining room.

Sooyun kept her lips pressed tightly together, and every muscle clenched. When she first met Hoseok, he was a bouncy, flirty weirdo with a penchant for leather and ink. Now, she saw him as an executioner leading her to the dungeon, the hand on her arm like a tourniquet around her bicep.

He was silent, unnaturally so. If it weren’t for the grip of his hand and his overwhelming presence, Sooyun would have forgotten he was there.

At the bottom of the staircase leading up to her room – more like her cage, really – Sooyun thought it was finally time the boys would leave her alone. Instead, Hoseok grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her up against the grey wall. She gasped and instinctively threw her fists against his chest to push him away, but he was stronger. He ground her shoulder blades into the wall, pushing with the heels of his hands.

“Stop!” she gasped in pain. “Get off me!”

He didn’t, shoving her harder. He bared his teeth, dark eyes trained on hers and expression steely. “Stop being such a brat,” he hissed.

“What?” she breathed, stunned.

“You need to watch your attitude while you’re here,” he threatened, his voice rough and freezing. “We’re too close to have you ruin everything.”

The fear in her eyes quickly turned to fire. “I haven’t done anything wrong!” she protested, shoving harder against him. “You’re the ones who kidnapped me! I don’t even want to be here, so I’ll be a brat if I damn well please!”

“Watch it.”

“Get off me, you freak!”

He lifted her a bit off the wall before jamming her back into it even harder, rattling the pictures that hung there. She cried out in pain, and when she opened her eyes, his eyes were almost glowing with anger. “Listen here, Sooyun, I know your friends warned you how dangerous we are, so let this be a warning: You’ll be safe if you do what we tell you and stay out of our way, but keep up this attitude, and we may do something we’d regret.”

Horrified by his vile expression and low growling voice, Sooyun froze up. All the fight drained out of her, leaving her limp against the wall like a mouse cornered by a hungry snake. She couldn’t help but stare hopelessly into his furious eyes and wait for the predator to strike.

“Hyung!”

Jeongguk suddenly came charging down the hall, an answer to Sooyun’s prayers for help. He pushed Hoseok out of the way with a heavy shove. “Why are you scaring her, Hyung?” he shouted. The two men glared at each other for a tense moment. Sooyun held her breath, terrified of what these men could do to each other if provoked.

Then, Hoseok just sighed, backing down. “Fine,” he said emotionlessly. “I just don’t like brats. It’s a wonder I can put up with _you_ , Gguk.”

Jeongguk’s angry stance relaxed, his glare replaced with a sly grin. “It’s ‘cause you love me, Hyung,” he beamed. “Now get out of here before you make her cry anymore.”

Hoseok rolled his eyes. He did as he was told but not without knocking his shoulder against Jeongguk’s as he passed. Once his stiff back was out of sight, Sooyun let out the breath she’d forgotten she was holding in. Her heart beat easier now that he was no longer in her face, staring her down with those intense eyes.

“You good?” Jeongguk asked gently.

She nodded. “I – Uh, I don’t think he likes me …” she tried to joke, but it came out more like a whimper.

The boy just laughed, softly putting his hand on her shoulder. Sooyun stepped back and out of his reach. For a moment, he seemed surprised, but quickly dismissed it and started toward her room. “Come on, let’s go. You look like you could use a lot more sleep.”

Scowling, Sooyun followed up the narrow staircase. Her attic room had a musty smell that she hadn’t noticed before. The light had faded from the skylights and she heard the sounds of nature muffled by the thick walls as all the animals settled down for the night. When she stepped inside, the dread returned tenfold. She’d forgotten her cage was so small, and so unfairly comfortable. She’d rather be in her itty-bitty, smelly rooftop apartment trying to sleep on her thin, lumpy mattress than in this royal bedchamber.

Her shoulders slumped, the tears from before still lingering and clinging desperately to her bottom lashes.

“All right, you seem good,” Jeongguk sighed and clapped his hands together. “If you need anything during the night, just as–”

“I want to go home,” she blurted out. Her voice sounded pathetic enough to make her feel pity for herself. “Please, let me go. I won’t tell them you did. You can just tell them I escaped somehow; I don’t care! Just let me go, please!” She grew more frantic the more she begged.

His face didn’t change from a bored expression. He shook his head. “You know I can’t do that.”

“Then tell me what you want with me! Are you going to kill me, or am I just going to be stuck here with you forever? Tell me, please; I can’t take it!”

He didn’t answer. “Just get some rest.” The door slammed shut, locking with a loud click.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still Thursday for another twenty minutes!!!

Everyone was silent as the vehicle tore down the dirt roads deep in the thick woods. The sun peeked over the horizon and cast long sprawling shadows on the ground. Jaebum’s old van bumped and shook when the tires struck an old root or stone that had been thrown in the path, jostling the solemn group piled into the back.

Yugyeom ran beside the van, transformed into his large wolf body, nearly the size of a rhino. He was large, even for a werewolf, and that attributed to his life as a lone wolf, the other packs fearing his strength. He was thankful for his stamina and size in this moment, as a lesser wolf would be on the verge of collapse, but he was still able to run for another couple hours. As he matched the vehicle’s speed, he kept sniffing the air, trying to find any sign of Sooyun.

Inside the van, Jinyoung sat against the wall, curled into a small ball, his stomach twisted in knots. The others were gathered around him, Jackson at the wheel, communicating with Yugyeom, and everyone was asleep or in their own world. He nervously chewed his fingers. They’d been driving for hours now, the lights of Seoul long gone in the distance, replaced by rural mountains and deep, dark wilderness. He hated the thought of Sooyun being trapped out here, scared out of her mind and waiting for them to come save her.

Jae softly patted his back when he noticed how much of his fingernails were missing. “You okay?” he asked.

Jinyoung shook his head. “Of course, not,” he sighed. “I’m losing my mind right now.”

“I understand,” the elder murmured. “Well, I don’t really understand … We’re all worried about Sooyun, but none of us can comprehend what you’re feeling right now.”

Sighing, Jinyoung rested his head on his fist. “I feel hopeless.”

“Yeah?”

“I thought we were safe,” he ran his fingers through his messy hair. “I did everything I could to keep her safe; I worked so hard to keep her from getting hurt, but she didn’t even trust me enough to tell me she was working with you guys.”

Jae smirked a little. “She thought she was so sneaky about it.”

“Jaebum convinced me that her being with you guys would give her more protection – I even allowed that brat to scent her to keep other wolves away – but Bangtan somehow found a way to ruin everything. They have more ties to Hora than anyone, and they’re basically using Sooyun as bait!

Suddenly, the older man’s hand tightened on his shoulder, drawing his attention. “Hey, I _promise_ you that Hora will not get her hands on your sister. At least we know that Bangtan will protect her from that witch with their lives – they won’t let any harm come to her.”

“I still want her back as soon as possible. She doesn’t know anything about your world, and we don’t know what they could subject her to.”

“I know, I know,” Jae’s voice grew softer, as if he knew there was no comforting the poor man. He looked up at Jaebum, who was pretending to be asleep across the way. The mage was grimacing, having heard everything, and surely thinking this happened because he wasn’t careful enough. But Jae knew that it was no one’s fault – not even Bangtan could truly be blamed for what they had done. Sooyun was their key to freedom, he couldn’t condemn them for wanting to keep her close to them. As a creature in the same position that they were, he understood their thinking.

But he’d be damned if he didn’t do all he could to get his friend back from them.

“We should be at the safehouse soon,” Youngjae said sleepily, his eyes fluttering shut as he spoke. “I smell Junsu-hyung.”

“I do too,” Mark yawned and stretched out his limbs before wrinkling his nose. “Man, they really went all-out scenting this place. It kind of reeks.”

“I’m not sure that smell is Junsu-hyung,” Jackson said darkly. He hit the brakes and the van screeched to a harsh stop, waking Jamie and BamBam up with a jolt. His fingers made quick work of his seatbelt and he was out of the car before the engine completely shut off. The others cautiously exited the boot while Yugyeom came to a slow stop near them. His ears were perked, and he lifted his muzzle to sniff loudly. His head swiveled as he searched the surrounding woods, nose quivering.

“What is it?” Jamie asked in a hushed voice.

Jackson frowned at his pack member; he knew this wasn’t Sooyun’s scent Yugyeom had suddenly caught or the smell of their fellow wolves’ house. Judging by the way his tail flicked back and forth, it was something very unpleasant. His nose wasn’t as strong as the younger wolf’s, but he could smell the stench of something rotten.

 _“Hyung,”_ Yugyeom said in a low voice. _“You should turn too. There’s something here.”_

With little hesitation, Jackson crouched down and felt his bones crack and reform as his body transformed. His skin itched as his thick, grey fur sprouted and thickened. His canine form was only slightly smaller than Yugyeom’s, but larger in size to either Mark or Youngjae. Towering over the others, he wiggled his nose and sniffed the air. With his heightened olfactory sense, the foul smell in the nearby woods was strong enough to make him shiver.

 _“Mark-hyung, stay here to watch over the others,”_ he instructed, still sniffing in the direction of the stench. _“Youngjae, come with us. We’ll be back soon, we have to check something out.”_

Mark relayed this to Jaebum, who looked grim. He nodded to Jackson and warned them not to stray too far and to come back as soon as possible. The three wolves sprinted off into the forest, Yugyeom at the front, leading them. Their powerful legs carried their large bodies swiftly through the dense trees, covering incredible ground in mere seconds. It took hardly over two minutes for them to travel two kilometers to where the scent was coming. The trail led them to a large tree with dying leaves scattered all around the base.

Yugyeom slowed his approach, his paws warily padding the forest floor as if he didn’t want to go closer. They all knew what they were about to see, and none of them were very keen on finding out what had caused it. Jackson took the lead to relieve his pack member and wiggled his haunches to encourage the two.

They crept toward the tree and the vile stink grew even stronger. It was the stench of death and rot.

Jackson rounded the thick trunk and softly caught his breath before letting it out in a large, sad sigh. Lying at the base was a man, bloodied and mangled and beginning to decay. The poor thing’s throat had been torn out violently, and the gaping hole in his chest stared back at the wolf, completely empty. His heart was missing, confirming Jackson’s fears.

 _“He was a Risen,”_ Youngjae stated softly when he noticed the empty cavity.

 _“Yeah,”_ Jackson grimly said.

 _“But whose?”_ Yugyeom used his head to point at the bloody skin around the wound. _“The mark is missing.”_

Jackson scanned the corpse. Usually, any Risen would have a mark over the cavity where their heart should be, a scar indicating which mage held control over them, but Youngjae was correct; this man’s mark had been cut away. 

Youngjae suddenly spoke up again. _“Hyung, look up there.”_

He did, and to the side of the body, stabbed into the tree trunk with a sharp knife, were two gory pieces of explanation: A carving of a Smeraldo flower on the handle of the knife, and a flap of skin bearing white scars in the shape of a dead rose. Bangtan boasted the mark of a Smeraldo flower to indicate their presence, and the dead rose was the signature of the most dangerous witch of their time.

 _“Do you suppose Bangtan’s hunting Hora?”_ Yugyeom asked.

 _“How else would they have managed to get his heart and kill him?”_ said Youngjae.

 _“No,”_ Jackson wet his chops. _“Bangtan wouldn’t go looking for her, especially not while they have Sooyun. It looks more like Hora’s hunting them. And that means we’re on the right path. But … with it being so close to the safehouse, I fear this is a warning to us.”_

Youngjae whined lowly. _“They are threatening us to stop us from finding them?”_

 _“It’s not a threat,”_ growled Yugyeom. _“They’re warning us that we aren’t the only ones after Sooyun. Hora must know they have her now. She’s close by.”_

 _“Yeah,”_ Jackson sighed. Despite their quarrels, Bangtan was ultimately on their side, and wished them no harm, especially not at Hora’s hands. But they struck first, and Jackson and Jaebum wouldn’t give up on Sooyun. He stared at the mangled corpse for a moment more before he could no longer stand it and turned away with a sad drop of his tail. Facing the others, he jerked his head in the direction where they had come. _“Jaebum needs to know about this. Let’s go back and leave this poor soul to rest.”_

_“Shouldn’t we find his heart, Hyung?”_

_“No. He’s obviously dead, so there’s no use in that. Bangtan would have already disposed of it anyway. Now, come.”_

The three wolves turned tail and hurried back to their group. Time seemed to go slowly on their return trip, the disturbing image of the bloodied, heartless man burned painfully into their eyes. After years and years of hunts like this, anyone would think the werewolves were used to things like that, but their pack were sensitive souls. Poor Youngjae would often still vomit at the sight of such a destroyed body.

Jackson led this time as Yugyeom had gone quiet, lagging behind the others with his tail hanging limply between his legs. He had seen much worse than that man, but something about this kill had him on edge. Perhaps it was the thought of Sooyun out in these woods with the ones who had done something so foul.

_“God, I hope she’s safe.”_

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

Sooyun awoke feeling like she had been sleeping in a freezer. The temperature around her seemed to have dropped dramatically during the night, leaving her shivering and bundled in the sheets. She shuddered and tried to pull the blankets higher up to her chin, but her body wouldn’t obey. Something weighed heavy on her chest, every second making it harder to breathe A disquieting feeling settled in her stomach when she recognized what this was.

_“Darling, Sooyun ~”_

As the lizard-like hand dragged across her cheek, softly pinching her skin, Sooyun tensed. That horrible woman had returned.

 _“Ah, dear, little Sooyun, how tragic you ignored my warnings,”_ the woman cooed, still caressing Sooyun. Her long, sharp nails scratched against the plump flesh of her cheek as if it were another warning. _“I tried to deliver you from them, but you followed them straight into their den. Why didn’t you listen to me, Dear?”_

Sooyun opened her mouth, but only a rough croak escaped. She wheezed and her eyes darted back and forth worriedly as the woman sighed, disappointed. _“No, no, Sooyun; I don’t care to hear your excuses.”_ Her voice had become clipped and furious, almost like a mother scolding her misbehaving child. She let another nail drag down the girl’s face, a bit rougher, and let out a pleased sigh when Sooyun clenched her jaw.

 _“I’ll only tell you this, and you would do well to listen close this time.”_ Leaning in, the woman’s cold breath puffed menacingly against her ear. _“Trust these boys, Sooyun, and you shall come to regret it. They are dangerous beasts, capable of unimaginable carnage. Escape, Child, while you are still able, and remember your guardian angel. You are my only hope, and I am all that you can trust.”_

The freezing, scaly fingers retracted and Sooyun gasped as she suddenly felt all the pressure release. The temperature rose so quickly that it made her lightheaded and dizzy as she sat up, breathing heavily.

 _Who is that woman? And what does she want with me?_ She rested her fingers against the raised scratch left on her cheek. _And why does she sound so much like Eomma?_

She ran a trembling hand through her mussed hair and felt the sweat from her forehead. All this stress could not be healthy. She was about to lay back down and try to get some more sleep, when she noticed the visitor waiting by the open door.

“Rise and shine,” Jimin delivered the cliché with a bright smile. She only grunted in response. “Wow, someone’s not a morning person. Low blood pressure?”

Fighting the urge to spit profanities at her kidnapper, Sooyun folded her arms over her chest. “What is it now?”

He jerked his thumb towards the door. “It’s time for breakfast.”

“Don’t want any,” she quickly protested. Amazingly, she wasn’t keen on once more being surrounded by men that turn into ravenous dogs around food. Even though her stomach was loudly opposing, she fisted the sheets and maintained her steely expression.

“Aw, really?” Jimin sounded genuinely disappointed as her refusal. “Seokjin-hyung made waffles, and they’re kind of legendary. I was sure you’d be excited for a good meal. Guess not.” His already plump lips seemed to grow even bigger when he pouted, scratching the back of his neck. He stared her down with big, puppy-dog eyes that practically begged her to come with him.

To be honest, she was hungry, and waffles sounded amazing. Plus, it was hard to resist when Jimin was giving her that look.

He smiled at her conflicted look and placed small, previously unnoticed bunch of clothes on her bed and gave it a cheerful pat. “Okay, get dressed and I’ll be waiting outside the door.” With a wink, he slipped out of the room and left her on her own. Sooyun glared at the oaken barrier. They were way too adept at figuring her out, almost as good as Jackson. 

She then fixed her gaze on the clothes. Where had they gotten them, and why did they have them? Curious, she lifted the baby blue blouse on top and examined it – it was _not_ her style in the least. There were also black, wide-legged trousers and, to her disbelief, a matching set of underwear. She didn’t even want to know how they got her measurements.

Once she had changed, she joined Jimin in the hall and followed him down to the kitchen, where Seokjin gave her a warm welcome and a large stack of waffles. 

“Enjoy,” he said with a flash of his glittering smile.

Sooyun sighed softly before taking a big bite of the admittedly amazing treats. Why was this guy so freaking good at cooking?

“Did you sleep well, Sooyun?” Hoseok asked in a chipper tone. She gave him a side glare, still wary of him after he snapped at her the night before. He hummed playfully and returned to his food.

The boys paid her next to no attention for the duration of their meal, instead focusing on bickering with one another. She was able to sit back and enjoy her pancakes while Jeongguk and Seokjin threatened to throw theirs at one another over some silly argument. Jimin and Hoseok were almost in tears laughing, while Namjoon and Yoongi watched with bemused smiles, all four unwilling to come between the two.

Finally, Namjoon turned to her. “You look pale, Sooyun,” he said innocently enough. “Not feeling well?”

She pursed her lips. Seriously? “Of course, I’m not feeling well,” she grunted. “I want to go home.”

Yoongi hissed through his teeth. “Sorry, but not gonna happen.”

“Why not?” she frowned. “Why the hell am I even here in the first place?”

“We’ve all got our reasons,” Seokjin said flippantly.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she frustratingly rubbed her eyes. “You all just seem to dance around my questions and ignore everything I say.”

Jimin smirked. “We are pretty great dancers.”

“Please, my brother will be worried sick about me,” she simpered into her hands. Of course, kidnappers wouldn’t be empathetic, but she would try every weapon in her arsenal before she gave up. A few tears glistened in her eyes for good measure. “I’m all he has.”

“Pass the butter, Hyung.”

“Oh, _come on_!”

Yoongi sighed loudly, pushing his food around with his fork. “Why do you want to go home so badly? You lived in a rooftop apartment in a shitty part of town, working at a run-down shack of a tattoo parlor. What’s so great about a life like that?”

“That’s a little rude, Hyung,” Jimin clicked his tongue.

“It’s the truth,” Yoongi shrugged. “You can’t deny that our house is much better than that storage closet she lived in.”

Sooyun angrily bared her teeth. “Not everyone can afford a freaking mansion,” she growled out. “And are you seriously trying to make kidnapping sound like a vacation?”

“No more arguing at the table,” Namjoon sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

For some reason, the boys all shut their mouths at Namjoon’s command. Sooyun deduced they saw him as some sort of leader.

He rolled his shoulders and made a soft noise of discomfort. “I’m sorry, Sooyun, Hyung doesn’t have much delicacy. But … I’m sorry to say that we can’t let you go home, but we have no ill will towards you. If you’re patient and compliant, you’ll be out of here before you know it, and could even enjoy it here.”

She perked up in her seat. “So, I will be able to go home?”

“Eventually.”

“Then, what’s the point of bringing me here?”

Namjoon rubbed his chin, his face scrunched in frustration. The others gave exasperated looks at one another across the table. Leaning back in his chair, Taehyung scratched his head. “You were being stalked.”

“I’m aware,” she grumbled. Saying it out loud felt strange, as if she had been in denial for so long. “Are you saying you’re protecting me from a stalker by dragging me here?”

“It’s much bigger than that, but yeah; as long as you’re with us, your stalkers won’t find you,” he glanced away and muttered under his breath, “We hope.”

She frowned. “How did you even know about my stalker?”

“Alright,” Seokjin stood and clapped his hands. “Since this conversation is getting us nowhere, I say we move on. Jeongguk, Hoseok go do the dishes, I think Sooyun could do with some relaxing for a while.” He gave her a gentle smile and a quick wink. “We can watch a movie in the living room if you’d like.”

“I wanna come too!” Jimin waved his hand excitedly. He hopped up and took Sooyun by the arm, pulling her to her feet. Seokjin chuckled fondly as he and Taehyung followed the two out of the dining room.

Sooyun remained silent, her eyes wandering over a large hallway she hadn’t been down yet, and up to the arched ceiling. Who could afford marble pillars nowadays?

“So, if you haven’t been able to tell already, our house is relatively big,” Jimin rambled proudly when he noticed her wide-eyed stare. “With seven of us living here, a home any smaller would be a nightmare.”

“Eight of us now,” Seokjin chirped.

“Oh, right!”

Jimin ushered her into a large living space with French doors leading to the beautiful back yard. A grey sectional sofa was the center point of the room, along with a lovely mahogany table, all seats facing a large television mounted above a marble fireplace. Ideal for hosting get-togethers, the spacious room was decorated liberally with photos of the boys and other artsy décor. Two guitars hung beside a grand piano and a few expensive looking cajon drums. A saxophone was lovingly placed in a velvet case atop the piano.

“Do you like music?” Jimin asked suddenly.

Sooyun nodded. Her mother taught both she and Jinyoung to sing when they were little, and she was given piano lessons while her brother learned the guitar. They still loved to play with each other on occasion, but without a piano, she had lost her touch. “Do you all play?” she surprised herself with a question of her own.

Taehyung’s eyes glittered softly. “I play the sax.”

“The rest of us play a little of everything,” Seokjin waved his hand at the piano. “But Yoongi is the best on the piano. Classically trained, and with surprisingly delicate fingers.”

She allowed herself a small smile. Who would have guessed the scary man had such delicate fingers?

“How about you?” Jimin nudged her curiously.

“Uh, piano … Well, when I was younger. Nowadays, I’m not so good,” she grimaced.

“Well, perhaps Yoongi could teach you again,” said Seokjin with a bright grin, a glint of excitement in his grin. “We’d all love it if you played with us, I’m sure.”

Her smile vanished in an instant. “No,” she said quickly. Music was too personal, too revealing, and if she allowed herself to be vulnerable with them, it would only hurt. She didn’t want to form any kind of relationship with them. “I-I don’t want to.”

She could sense the atmosphere suddenly sour. Her blood felt colder and the room seemed darker for a moment. If she looked at their faces, she was sure she would see nothing but hurt, but it didn’t matter. Let them hurt, after all, they didn’t deserve her kindness. Still, rejecting them so vehemently felt awful.

“Ah, okay,” Seokjin sighed. “I, um … We understand.”

Jimin rubbed his arm awkwardly. “Um, should we watch a movie?”

Everyone appreciated his attempt to change the subject, but the mood did not feel any lighter.

Taehyung folded his arms bitterly over his chest. “First, I think we should introduce her to the dogs.”

Frowning, Jimin quickly shook his head. “We don’t want to scare her that badly, Tae,” he said in a terse voice.

“The moment she saw the front door, she tried to run, so I think we need to show her what’ll come after her if she does.”

“It may be good,” Seokjin hummed to himself. “Perhaps it could help convince her.”

“Convince me of what?” she asked cautiously.

Seokjin and Jimin sighed heavily, exchanging cryptic looks. She flinched and nearly tripped over her feet as Taehyung yanked her by the arm and dragged her toward the doors and out to the back yard. The way the others followed sluggishly behind was unnerving.

The cold air felt wonderful on her skin, but she was too scared to enjoy the breeze. When she stepped off the wooden deck, the dew on the untrimmed grass soaked uncomfortably through her socks. She looked up at the house and swallowed thickly. The grey-painted home looked as solid and imposing as the trees that surrounded it. Large, tinted windows looked out over the forest without allowing a single glimpse inside. She could identify her own room judging by the route she had to take to the kitchen – plus, it was the only room with bars on the window.

Taehyung’s grip stayed firm on her arm until they reached a point near the side of the large home. Sooyun frowned. Before them was what looked like a small barn made of steel, with a wide cage encircling at least twenty square meters of lawn. Dog toys that looked big enough for dinosaurs were scattered around, as well as a few enormous piles of steaming … gifts.

“What is this?” she asked nervously.

“Tan-ah!” Taehyung shouted, ignoring her question. 

Immediately, loud, frantic barking shook the trees, and rattled Sooyun’s bones. Two large creatures bounded out of the shed and Sooyun screamed as one slammed its gigantic paws against the cage. 

“These are our dogs, Yeontan and Mickey,” Taehyung said nonchalantly.

It was as if a Tibetan mastiff had grown to twice the average size, with teeth that seemed much too long when he barked and growled at Sooyun. The other looked like a gigantic wolf with a smushed snout and floppy brown ears. The pink bow tied into the fur on its head would be comical if not for the vicious snarl and flying drool.

Terrified, Sooyun jumped back and slipped on the damp lawn. Frightened tears sprung up as she crawled away on her hands and knees and ended up clinging shakily to Seokjin’s jeans. Taehyung reached a hand through the bars and patted the mastiff’s head. The dog snuggled against it and eagerly licked his palm. An endearing smile lit up his placid face. “Aw, Tan-ah,” he cooed.

“Wh-Wh-Wha –” Sooyun stuttered timidly. “What-t are those th-things?”

“Our attack dogs,” said Jimin. He graciously helped her up off the ground and chuckled softly when she hid herself behind him. “Don’t worry, they can’t break the cage; you’re safe.”

She shook her head anxiously. “Those aren’t _dogs_! They’re – They’re huge!”

Jimin lightly patted the hand that clutched at the sleeve of his black t-shirt. “That’s just how they were bred. They’re really not that scary.”

She trembled when Mickey – the one wearing a bow – snarled hungrily at her. No, they really _were_ that scary.

Whistling softly, Seokjin strolled up to the cage and gave Mickey a gentle pet. “Settle down now; you’re scaring Sooyun,” he said in a sweet voice. 

“That’s the point,” deadpanned Taehyung, still scratching behind Yeontan’s ear. He looked at Sooyun with empty eyes. “If you try to escape, we won’t be the ones to track you down, these two will. They are faster, stronger, and meaner than you, so I wouldn’t do anything funny, all right?” 

She nodded, only to be able to leave the pen – Mickey looked hungry. 


	9. Chapter 9

Three days. Three whole days had passed.

Sooyun had hardly spent a moment alone throughout her time there, always having someone following her or waiting outside her door. Mostly, she tried to stay in her room as much as she could, but if she wanted to step a single foot outside, one of the boys would remain glued to her. Usually, Jimin or Jeongguk would stick to her while the others went about their day, but sometimes when neither were free, Hoseok or Taehyung would take their place. It wasn’t that she liked the others, but she was much more uncomfortable with the older men watching her every move. Taehyung had instantly made her a little afraid, and after Hoseok’s outburst, the man who seemed so friendly in the shop turned into a menacing figure always looming over her.

She was starting to feel lethargic too. When was the last time she had actually ran, or even stretched her legs? She felt like she’d been lying in her bed for hours. Honestly, she may have been. After breakfast, she ran up the stairs and flopped down on top of her covers. She didn’t know how much time had passed since then, but it was probably close to lunchtime by now.

Groaning, she turned onto her side and buried her face in her pillow. The smell of expensive detergent offended her senses as she longed for her own musty sheets. She hated how soft and clean they were, nothing like home.

“Knock, knock!” Seokjin suddenly stuck his head into her room. His bright eyes crinkled when he smiled at her, sprawled out on her bed. “Did you go back to sleep?”

“Yup,” she said monotonously.

He chuckled breathily, using his heel to nudge the door behind him. Sooyun noticed the bundle of clothes in his arms and frowned when he approached the chest of drawers in the corner.

“We went ahead and bought you a few new outfits,” he said absently. “We only prepared a few before you got here, and you can’t wear the same things every day, right? Even if you don’t leave the house, you can’t neglect your fashion.”

She sighed heavily as he folded a pink sweater with a minimalist cat face in the center. “They aren’t really my style.”

Seokjin shrugged his shoulders. “I think you look cuter in things like this. Those black clothes and heavy boots don’t do your looks any justice.”

“Why do you care? I like my boots.”

He clocked his tongue and gave her a disapproving look over his shoulder. “You look better in pastels – don’t you like the sweater you’re wearing now?”

Sooyun folded her arms over her chest, the long sleeves of the blue sweater she wore dangling over her fingers. The fluffy lace around the cuffs and hem had bothered her at first, but she had to admit, she did feel a little cute in it. She felt small. And that is exactly why she didn’t dress like that – she didn’t want to feel small like this. Her boots made her feel powerful, and her edgy style made her look untouchable. That’s how she liked it. She wasn’t a doll for Seokjin to play dress-up with.

Her silence made him grin, turning back to his work. “I got you a purple one just like it. I also bought you some new socks since you don’t seem to like house slippers. We can’t have you walking around barefoot or you’ll catch a cold. Also, I need to talk to you about your hair; I think you should try to put it up more …”

His voice drowned out when she noticed the open door. She thought he had closed it when he came in, but it was cracked open, and there was no one guarding her. If one of them came into her room, usually the boy outside her door would leave to either get something to eat or relieve themselves.

There was a way out.

She bit her lip nervously. If she tried to run, they would send the dogs after her, and she’d no doubt be dead, but she was so scared of becoming complacent here. She had to try something before she came down with some sort of Stockholm syndrome.

Before she could convince herself against it, she leapt off the bed and ran.

Seokjin spun around with wide eyes. “Shit! Sooyun!”

She slammed the door behind her and frantically trampled down the staircase, thankful she hadn’t put on any slippers or socks that would have made her slip down the wooden steps. She was out the other room’s door when she heard Seokjin calling for the boys from upstairs. Her bare feet slapped against the hardwood stairs and through the entrance hall. Something in the kitchen dropped and she heard someone scrambling out of the living area.

Jimin appeared around the corner with wide eyes and zeroed in on her as she struggled with the lock. It was sticky, but she managed to throw it open as Seokjin made it to the top of the stairs. “Guys! Get the hell out here!” Jimin snapped out of his surprise and threw himself around the doorway.

Sooyun flew out the door and into the front lawn. The cool grass and cobblestone sidewalk felt like ice against the soles of her feet, but she couldn’t stop to feel the pain. She had always prided herself on her speed and prayed that it wouldn’t fail her now. The long driveway vanished into the trees – if she followed it, she would come to a road and maybe someone to help her.

Her heart raced joyously for only a moment as she crossed the property line, but something stopped her … the bracelet tightened painfully and she was stopped mid-step, hanging suspended for a moment. It hurt as if she had run headlong into bricks, but there was nothing there, nothing at all. A powerful shock ran through her when she was violently thrown back into the yard.

It didn’t make sense! How could thin air stop her when she was so tantalizingly close? It wasn’t possible!

“What?” she breathed, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

A figure appeared over her, shadowed by the sun behind his head. “You idiot. We warned you.”

She sobbed as Taehyung dragged her to her feet. “No, no, please …” she cried. All her hope had faded, draining out of her and down the drain. This wasn’t real, it couldn’t be, because if it was, then she couldn’t get out, she’d never get out. “No …”

She noticed some of the others were outside too, their eyes on fire. They all looked so angry, so disappointed in her. Seokjin, red in the face, glared at her with such fury and betrayal, but she could hardly see through the rivers of tears streaming down her face.

Taehyung kept a grip on her scruff and forced her forward, almost growling. “You’re lucky you didn’t get any farther,” he sneered. “Now you’ll see what happens when you disobey.”

“Tae,” Jimin said in a much deeper voice than normal. “Don’t tell me …”

“You have a better idea?” he snapped. When no one responded, he sighed and pushed the sobbing girl forward. “Yoongi-hyung, the keys?”

“Got ‘em,” Yoongi sighed.

Everyone followed them inside, and down a hallway that she had never been in before. It seemed darker, stuffier, with a moldy smell coming from the walls. Sooyun continued to cry and struggle, but Taehyung’s grip was solid and strong. She didn’t want to see what was at the end of this horror hallway. The others didn’t look too excited to follow, but they seemed resigned to what Taehyung wanted.

Finally, they came to a small, wooden door. It was almost ancient, much older than the house itself. There wasn’t a handle, no way to get in and Sooyun frowned through her tears. She couldn’t understand what was supposed to happen here. Taehyung’s large hand suddenly covered her eyes. She sobbed and tried to rip it off her face, while the door somehow creaked open eerily.

Instantly, a cold breeze surrounded her, chilling her to the bone and causing goosepimples to rise all over her body. She breathed heavily through her sobs and reached out for something to grip as Taehyung moved her forward. She recoiled at the musty scent of moldy stone and rotten wood that abused her senses. When Taehyung took his hand away, she still couldn’t see more than a foot ahead of her, and she knew nothing besides cold stone surrounded her.

Before she could ask where they were, a sudden scream broke through the tense atmosphere. She seized and nearly collapsed when the voice attacked her from all sides, but Taehyung supported her. A single man’s terrified cry rang off the walls and begged for release. His hoarse shouts hurt her ears, like nails on a blackboard. She whimpered and dug her heels in, frustrating Taehyung even further.

“What i-is that?” she asked weakly. 

As suddenly as they began, the screams stopped like someone put their hand over the person’s mouth. Heavy, almost wet breathing filled the corridor, sounding hungry. She heard shuffling and metal rattling against stone. “Is it the girl? I-It’s her, isn’t it?” he asked in an excited whisper.

Sooyon looked to the side, where she could just make out thick bars breaking the monotony of bricks. A ghostly figure lurked behind them, moon-like eyes staring eagerly up at her. She flinched and tripped back into Taehyung.

“Shut up,” Yoongi growled and it took a moment for Sooyun to realize he was telling the man and not her.

“That’s her! Th-That’s her!” he sounded almost hopeful. “Give her to me.”

“I said shut up!” Metal clanged loudly when Yoongi kicked the bars.

“Please – *huff* – Please let me take the girl – *huff* – _she_ wants her …” he started to sound more excited and his voice grew more desperate with each word. “She’ll love me if I bring the girl!”

“Maybe this is a bad idea,” Jeongguk chimed nervously, placing his hand on Taehyung’s shoulder, and stopping him beside the cell.

Seokjin hummed in agreement. “Taehyung, she’s not safe down here. Let’s just take her back to her room.”

“No,” Namjoon spoke for the first time in a while. “As much as I hate the idea, we should show her just how generous we’ve been.”

Since their leader approved of Taehyung’s actions, the others held their tongue, no matter how much they wanted to continue protesting. Sooyun wished they would and take her away from this crazy man.

A cold, bony hand suddenly grabbed at her pant leg, making her scream. Taehyung wrapped her in both arms and turned so she was shielded from the prisoner while Jeongguk stomped on the man’s outstretched hand. With an anguished screech, he retracted his arm and held it to his chest while he wailed, begging for them to let him take Sooyun.

She shivered against Taehyung’s chest, her heart beating furiously in her ears and tears cascading down her cheeks and soaking into his sweater. His hands held her tight, clutching her back like he wasn’t going to let her go. He had been keeping a harsh grip on her since they caught up to her, but not like this. Despite his adamant decision to keep her down here, he suddenly seemed reluctant. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed her by the arm and jerked his head forward. “Let’s go.”

Yoongi walked in front of them, scowling at the rusted key he held tight in his fist. Sooyun’s eyes had adjusted enough for her to make out another cell besides the screaming man’s and she understood just what was happening. She started crying harder but didn’t even bother resisting when Yoongi opened the door and Taehyung led her inside. Behind her, the door shut loudly and Yoongi turned the lock.

“We tried being nice,” Namjoon grunted, obviously disappointed. “You didn’t appreciate our hospitality, so you get to experience how we usually treat our guests.”

Sooyun turned to give them one last pleading look, but they were numb to it. They left her there, in that tiny stone cell, alone with the crazy man.

They really were monsters.

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

The group had paused to eat a quick lunch. Two days before, they had reached the old safehouse that was once a pack home – magical barriers had been set up around the perimeter to keep out unwanted visitors – and had spent the night there before they left early that morning to continue chasing after Sooyun’s scent.

Yugyeom nibbled on his sandwich, but his stomach was too nervous to digest anything. He caught the scent the day before and had it until only hours ago, and they’d just been going blind for the last few kilometers, keeping to the same direction they’d been going for the past day. No one felt comfortable with it, but it was better than waiting for her scent to suddenly appear out of nowhere. 

Jae, Jamie and Jinyoung had been left at the safehouse with the keys to Jaebum’s large van. There were full gas canisters hidden behind the house that they used to fill the tank and keep it ready if they needed it. When they found Sooyun, the three of them would come racing over with the van and drive them back to safety. Jinyoung was more than pissed when they told him to stay put, ready to snap someone’s neck, but Jaebum finally talked him down and convinced him to be patient.

“It looks like rain,” BamBam sighed, looking up at the darkening sky. Youngjae agreed with a wide yawn.

“It’ll wash the scents away,” said Jackson. The alpha ate the last of his sandwich in a quick bite and stood up. “We need to go as soon as possible. If we wait any longer, there’ll be nothing for Yugyeom to find.”

Yugeom huffed. “There’s already no trail,” he muttered. “If there were, we wouldn’t just be sitting here.”

“Come on,” Jackson kicked him playfully. “We’re not going to find anything with that attitude. Get off your butt and let’s go.”

With a heavy groan, Yugyeom pushed himself to his feet and the others followed. Jaebum stretched out his back and cracked his neck. They hiked on for what seemed like hours before Yugyeom’s nose began to twitch. The clouds had already begun to drizzle onto the forest floor, but through the scent of rain, he smelled something familiar.

“I’ve got it!” he exclaimed suddenly, startling Youngjae.

The other wolves sniffed the air, but their noses were too weak to smell Sooyun. Jackson caught another scent though.

Yugyeom crouched down and shifted forms to strengthen his senses and charged through the woods at a speed his human shape would never be able to match. He kept his nose in the air, following her distinct scent as clearly as if a path had been cut through the woods. This was one of the only good things that came from his life as a lone wolf – his incredible sense of smell. Being on his own had heightened most of his senses for the sake of keeping himself safe from other packs that felt threatened by his appearance.

Despite Jackson’s alpha status, he couldn’t keep up with Yugyeom even as a wolf. With a groan, he commanded his pack to transform and follow the younger but warned them to be cautious.

Yugyeom’s mind was on one thing – Sooyun – and everything else around him melted away. He was going to run until they found her and saved her from those monsters, even if his paws were worn to the bone. He curved slightly to the left and flicked his tail in excitement, but Jackson suddenly appeared in front of him and stopped his pace.

A snarl ripped from his mouth and his eyes angrily popped open. _“Hyung! What the hell?!”_

Jackson snapped his jaws and stared him down.

_“We can’t stop now! I had the scent!”_

_“Look around you, Yugyeom,”_ said the alpha, raising his haunches. _“It’s not her.”_

Confused, Yugyeom looked past Jackson into the trees and suddenly backed down. Only a few meters behind him stood a grey wolf almost as large as Jackson, human eyes glaring at him ferociously and the fur on her back bristling. A scrap of cloth dangled from her teeth. Four other wolves stood on either side of the alpha and stared down the two with challenging scowls.

Shit.

The large wolf shifted into her human form and brushed her short hair back from her eyes, exposing her severely bruised face. “Looking for this?” she threw the tattered jacket onto the ground at her feet. Yugyeom recognized it. “We’ve been trying to find you for years now. Man, am I happy to finally see you again.”

The other wolves followed her lead and transformed. Yugyeom took a step back, recognizing each of their angry face from years before. 

“Who are they?” Jackson asked softly.

Raising her eyebrows, the female alpha smiled at the man. “We’re this bastard’s former pack.”

The other didn’t even flinch. He knew Yugyeom had already been banished from several packs, but he didn’t like the rage in this alpha’s eyes, or the disturbing wounds on her face and arms. “What do you want with him?”

“And why do you have that?” Yugyeom bared his teeth and pointed to the scrap of clothing.

The alpha smirked. “We were enlisted. A certain witch tipped us off to where you were hiding, and where that girl you scented lived. It was a simple matter of following her home, of course. Her apartment had pretty shitty locks – not very secure.”

Now, Jackson was snarling at her, and Mark and Youngjae suddenly appeared, flanking their packmates, BamBam bringing up the rear. “Bastards.” He had no doubt in his mind that she was the one following Sooyun, and knowing it was at Hora’s request made him blood boil.

“We never hurt her,” one of the men to her left chuckled. “She hardly even knew we were there. We just wanted to pay this asshole back for stealing my mate.”

“I’ve told you a million times that I had nothing to do with her leaving the pack!” Yugyeom snapped. “She left because she was afraid of you!”

The alpha growled through her sharp teeth and balled her fists. “We took you into our ranks, and you thanked us by trying to usurp my position! You ripped apart a mating bond and nearly destroyed the hierarchy of our pack! You lone wolves don’t deserve to live!”

“I’m not a lone wolf anymore!” Yugyeom exclaimed with a brutal snarl. “And I never wanted your position or his mate!”

“He’s a part of our pack now,” Jackson stepped forward, holding Yugyeom back with a hand on his chest. “And Sooyun is too, so get out of here and leave us alone.”

“You think he won’t challenge you too?” the alpha sneered. “You should know why lone wolves are alone in the first place. He attacked the alpha of his birth clan and was sentenced to exile. Everywhere he goes, he disrupts the order – he’ll do the same to you.”

Jackson scoffed. “I’m willing to take that chance.”

She clicked her tongue and sighed. “Well, I’m not. I’m not letting him get away with what he did.” In the blink of an eye, she crouched down onto all fours and shifted, lunging at Yugyeom.

With a flash of blue light, the alpha was blown backwards into the trees. Her large body rolled violently across the forest floor before she was able to find her footing. She snapped her head towards Jaebum with wide, livid eyes. The mage’s hand was still smoking from the spell, hardly a drop of sweat on his brow.

He nonchalantly ran his fingers through his long hair and sighed in annoyance. “You’re trying to tell me that we’ve been following a damn _jacket_ for the past two days? Man … Now I’m pissed.”

Some of the enemy wolves took frightened steps back from the angry mage. One of them swallowed loudly before muttering under his breath. “How the hell did they get a mage on their side?”

The alpha shook her head and narrowed her eyes. _“I don’t care if they have a mage. I’m not letting him get away!”_

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

She couldn’t tell if she’d been down here for days or hours now. Her stomach growled, but it was from nausea, not hunger. The stench of mold was potent enough to peel paint, and it had taken its toll on her. Her head hurt from all the screaming coming from the cell beside her.

The man had not let up since she’d arrived. He kept screaming that he needed to take Sooyun to _her_. How _she_ would love him when he brought Sooyun, he needed to go to _her_. He whispered through the walls that all she had to do was come with him, then everything would be fine.

She curled into a ball in the corner on top of the lone cushion pushed against the wall. At least she was thankful for that small comfort, but it hardly made a difference since they trapped her in a dungeon. She threw her head back and closed her eyes, feeling the crusty remains of dried tears in the corners. There were no more tears left in her to cry, but she still felt the ache in her temples.

Suddenly, she heard the clang of the door opening at the top of the stairs. She gasped and pressed herself even tighter against the wall. What did they want with her now?

The crazy man’s raving grew louder as loud footsteps approached the cells. Her heart seemed to grow heavier once heavy boots came to a halt before the bars. She took a deep breath, then looked up, expecting to see Taehyung or Namjoon standing there, glaring at her.

Instead, Jeongguk and Seokjin quickly unlocked the door and swung it open, looking more upset than angry. “Are you okay?” Jeongguk asked with concern. Sooyun gave him a strange look, unsure if he were being genuine or if this was some kind of trick. He sheepishly looked away and sighed heavily when the crazy man’s screams got too extreme.

Seokjin approached her and knelt to her eye-line. “Sooyun, how do you feel?”

How did she feel? She felt like a dog being punished for something they didn’t do. She felt sick to her stomach and ready to punch him in the face, no matter how handsome it was. Scoffing in disgust, she turned her head away from him.

He scratched his head and closed his eyes, his brow deeply furrowed. “I’m so sorry for this. We shouldn’t have kept you down here – we overreacted.”

“You think?” she snapped at him with wide eyes. “I didn’t deserve this.”

“We know,” Jeongguk said quietly. He had left the cell to shut the man up and was rubbing his knuckles with a remorseful frown. “But Namjoon-hyung and Taehyung-hyung … we can’t go against them.” His thick shoulders fell as he spoke.

Sooyun shook her head. “I just want to go back to my room now,” she murmured into her knees. “Get me out of here, please?”

Seokjin smiled softly and held out his hand. She didn’t want to take it, but her legs had fallen asleep after being still for so long. Begrudgingly, she accepted his hand and let him pull her onto her feet. Pins and needles made her legs like jelly, and she stumbled slightly as she stood. Seokjin caught her with an apologetic chuckle. “Would you mind if I carry you?”

“I can walk,” she growled, but allowed him to be her support until the feeling fully came back to her legs. Jeongguk walked in front of them with his head down, shoulders still drooping as if burdened with a heavy load.

The man protested as they passed him. He screamed that they couldn’t take Sooyun, that _she_ needed her. _She_ would kill him.

Sooyun took once last glance at his emaciated face before Seokjin beckoned her to look ahead. “Who is ‘she’?” she felt she had the right to know after listening to his ravings for so long.

Seokjin prodded his cheek with his tongue, eyes narrowed angrily. He wasn’t going to answer. Of course not.

He helped her up the stairs, his large hands covering hers while she floundered about on her numb feet. She scowled when he giggled at her clumsiness, and that one look quickly shut him up. She wasn’t in the mood to be teased, not by him.

“Where are the others?” she asked monotonously; really, she just wanted to know so they could avoid them at all costs.

“Not around,” Jeongguk shot over his shoulder. “At least, they shouldn’t be. They don’t know we’re down here.”

She swallowed thickly. That meant the others probably still wanted to keep her down there. If they somehow ran into them, would they just throw her back in the cell?

Seokjin squeezed the hand that gripped his arm. “They won’t lock you up again,” he said as if he could read her mind. “Jimin and Yoongi are pretty much on board with us, and they won’t let the others do that to you. They may be small, but they be mighty.”

“Mighty terrifying,” Jeongguk snorted.

Sooyun allowed herself a tiny smirk. She saw Jimin angry only a handful of times, but it was obvious he had a temper. He was a brooder, and his stone-cold glare could freeze a man. But when he exploded at Jeongguk once at dinner, it was like a wild dog let off the leash. And Yoongi was already intimidating as it were.

At the top of the staircase, Jeongguk slowly opened the creaky door – there was a doorknob on this side for some strange reason – he peered into the hallway before nodding and climbing out. Sooyun’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness and the harsh lighting in the hall was like a slap upside the head. She flinched and groaned when the light hit her. Seokjin didn’t stop and led her through the corridor, glancing behind him every so often. To get to the stairs form the hall, they’d have to cross through the foyer, in clear view of the living area where it sounded like someone was watching a movie.

Jeongguk sighed and motioned for Seokjin to go while he distracted the others. But before they made a move, Namjoon walked out of the dining room and spotted them, nearly spilling the steaming coffee in his hand.

He looked from Jeongguk to Sooyun to Seokjin to Jeongguk and covered his eyes with a groan. “Seriously?”

“Hyung–”

“Gguk, I don’t want to hear it,” he sighed, holding out his hand to silence the younger. “I understand why you did this, but Taehyung’s going to be pissed off, and you’re going to clean up the mess that comes after.”

“Just don’t tell him!” Jeongguk pleaded.

“What do you think’s going to happen when he goes to let her out later? Did you even think this through?”

Seokjin stepped forward suddenly and broke up the two with a sharp look. “Joon, we just did what we thought was right. It’s too much keeping a girl down there on her own. You’ve lived long enough to know that, haven’t you? Taehyung can blow his stack as much as he wants, but I won’t say that letting her go was wrong. Besides, I’m at fault for letting her run out in the first place – if anyone should be blamed, it should be me, not Sooyun.”

She glanced up at him curiously. Of all the things for him to do, she was not expecting him to take the blame for this. Namjoon’s face showed he was conflicted; obviously, something Seokjin had said struck a chord with him. Quietly, she waited for the outcome of all this, her palms sweaty.

“What’s she doing here?”

All four flinched in response to the deep growl of a question. Taehyung had emerged from the restroom near the stairs and was looking at them with those dead eyes Sooyun hated. As much as she was loath to admit it, she hid herself behind Seokjin’s larger frame.

“Tae,” Seokjin warned him. “I’m sure you could hear what I said.”

“I heard it, and I disagree.”

The eldest rolled his eyes almost audibly. “Just come off it, Tae. I’m sick of this attitude of yours.”

“And I’m sick of no one in this house listening to me: First she makes a break for it, then the two of you blatantly go against me,” his eyes seemed to burn for a moment. “What the hell has gotten into you?”

“You think _we’re_ the problem?” Jeongguk angrily interjected. “Hyung, you’ve been acting like a jerk since we found where Sooyun was, and you’ve just expected us all to sit back and take everything you do? And once we brought her here, you got even worse, treating her like dirt! I wanted to be friends with her, not to make her our prisoner!”

The others had gathered by now, curious to see what all the shouting was about.

“And everyone else just goes along with you because you have the most power, but I don’t care!” he continued, his face contorting in anger. “When I agreed to do this, I was told it was for her own good, but now all you’re doing is tormenting her into staying!” Wait. His face was actually changing. “You’re doing to Sooyun the same thing that Hora did to us!”

Sooyun let out a short scream. His face had changed completely in an instant. His skin turned gray and papery, his eyes became completely inky black and his teeth were suddenly like knives. The longer he fought with Taehyung, the more pronounced the change became and it was awful.

All the boys turned to her when she shrieked, their eyes wide in terror. Jeongguk’s face was back to normal in an instant, as if it hadn’t changed at all.

“What is it?” Seokjin asked nervously, his forehead slick with sweat.

Sooyun shakily pointed at Jeongguk. “D-Did that – Did you see that?”

“See what, Sooyun-ah?” Jimin screwed up his face in confusion.

She stared at the youngest, but there was no trace of a monster anywhere on his handsome face. His wide, puppy-dog eyes looked just as scared as she felt. Still breathing heavily, Sooyun covered her face with her hands and tried to keep back the tears that decided now was a good time to reappear. “I-I don’t know,” she whispered. “I just want to sleep. I just want to be alone.”

Seokjin and Jimin cleared a path and led her to the stairs, past Taehyung, who no longer seemed quite so angry. He glanced at the terrified girl and hung his head, before reaching out and hugging Jeongguk. The poor boy was almost in tears as well and weakly hugged his hyung back.

“I’m sorry,” Sooyun thought she heard Taeyung say before she was out of earshot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise, BTS are not the bad guys! They're nicer soon!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a weird, but necessary chapter :)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!

“Good morning!”

Sooyun jumped from where she stood beside the window, clutching her chest. She stared wide-eyed at Seokjin as he strolled into her room with a big smile and a large tray of food.

“I made you breakfast.”

She was still wary of him, but since he had stood up for her the day before, she decided it wasn’t worth it to be mean to him. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Seokjin chuckled softly and set the tray at the foot of her messy bed. “I thought you’d enjoy eating by yourself rather than joining all of us this morning,” he gave her a remorseful look. “The others are reflecting on their actions, and I promise we’ll be on our best behavior from here on out.”

“But I still can’t leave?” she asked blankly.

His smile fell completely, nothing but sadness on his handsome face. “Sooyun …” Licking his lips, he sat on the side of the bed and patted a spot in front of him, but she refused his invitation to sit, still watching from beside the window. “That man in the dungeon, he’s not a good man.” His fingers fidgeted nervously at his side as he spoke, showing how much he wished not to speak on this subject. “And there are others like him; and they all want to take you to _her_. We can’t let that happen.”

“Who the hell is this woman?!” Sooyun shouted, eyes wide and frustrated. It was too much now, and she wasn’t let him leave without an answer.

He closed his eyes before answering in a low voice. “A very, _very_ cruel person.”

“And what does she want with me?” she shook her head and scoffed. “What is my value to her?”

“You possess something she needs … Honestly, that is all I am allowed to tell you.” He stood up when she opened her mouth to yell at him again. “I swear, I wish I could say more, but I can’t. I really can’t.”

“Because Taehyung won’t let you?”

His eyes turned to his house shoes, a sad smile on his lips. “Yeah.”

Sooyun frowned and shrugged her shoulders. “I still don’t understand why you guys all go along with such an ass.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “He can be an ass. Well, he _is_ an ass, and also a very kind, but very damaged man. Just give him a chance to show you who he really is, Sooyun.”

She pouted her lips, arms folded over her chest and eyes narrowed, but she couldn’t deny his words. She had felt during her tattoo session with Taehyung that he had a childish side to him, that he was friendly. If not for the second-hand fear, she thought she could have enjoyed speaking with him. Maybe she could give the boys a chance – if she were to be trapped here for a while, what else could she do.

Her expression softened as she contemplated everything, and it calmed Seokjin’s nerves. “Jimin and Jeongguk are planning to watch a movie downstairs this afternoon; I hope you’ll join us?” he turned and walked slowly towards the door.

“What … movie?”

He smiled over his shoulder, giggling at the blush that had risen in her face. “We’ll let you pick.” Softly, he closed the door and was gone.

Sooyun took a deep breath. Was she seriously considering making friends with Bangtan? After everything they did to her, could she really see them as good people? Wasn’t this Stockholm syndrome? She shouldn’t be thinking so hard on an empty stomach. 

She ate her breakfast slowly, contemplating her next move. It had to have been a week since she came here, and no doubt her friends were doing their best to find her. Considering how thick the forest grew around the house, it would not be easy to stumble across Bangtan’s dwelling. It could take weeks before she was free, and it seemed up to her to determine whether those weeks were hell or enjoyable. If the boys were truly repentant about their actions, she could probably learn to be friends with them.

Once every grain of rice was eaten, she forced herself to finally prepare for the day, washing her face and changing to one of the sweaters and pairs of jeans Seokjin had bought her. It was impossibly comfortable, but Sooyun still refused to admit she liked it. She just had to get by without a fight, and things would be alright, so she would wear the dumb clothes.

She took the empty tray and softly knocked on the bedroom door. After a moment, Seokjin appeared behind it, still grinning. “Finished?” he asked.

“It was delicious,” she conceded with a sheepish smile of her own.

He chuckled and took the tray from her, preparing to bring it to the kitchen on his own, but Sooyun quickly stopped him. “Wait!” He sharply turned to her with wide eyes. “I – uh – I’d like to come downstairs. I don’t think I’ll enjoy being stuck on my own for the rest of the day.” She folded her hands behind her back and refused to meet his eyes.

His handsome face looked best when he was smiling. “All right. I think the others will like that too.” He motioned for her to follow him down the staircase and into the main section of the house. She was cautious as they descended the second set of stairs. Some of the other boys’ voices were echoing from the living room. Swallowing hard, she took the final steps and followed Seokjin into the kitchen.

“Are you nervous?” he asked softly while he placed the tray and dishes in their large sink.

She raised her eyebrows and pouted. “No. Why?”

“Because you’re sticking very close to me,” he teased, playfully nudging her with his elbow. Noticing how closely she was to him, she took a large step back and he giggled. “Don’t be nervous. I said we’ll be good, didn’t I? If any of them step out of line, I have the authority to beat them with my slipper.”

The image made her smile. “Thank you.” She lived her entire life with a protective brother, and Seokjin was definitely filling that role without Jinyoung there. Knowing that there was someone like him around gave her a little more confidence that she could make it through her time here. She couldn’t put her trust in him like she could Jinyoung, Jackson or Yugyeom, but it was something she could rely on even just a little.

“You look sad.”

Blinking slowly, she turned back to him. He stared back with worried eyes and a small pout. “Oh, do I?” she shook her head and looked away, hoping he’d drop it. “I’m not, don’t worry.”

He sighed. “No, no, something’s on your mind, and I don’t think it’s the boys.”

Sooyun chewed her lip. “I miss my brother.” Seokjin nodded slowly, prompting her to continue. “I’m basically all he has. Yes, we have good friends and coworkers, but the two of us are all the family we have anymore. I just can’t imagine how he must be feeling right now.”

“I know,” he sighed and scratched his dark hair. “He seemed like a very caring brother.”

She cocked her head. “Have you met him?”

For a moment, he closed his eyes and sighed like he had just let out a big secret. She wasn’t going to stand for his silence and poked his arm impatiently. With pursed lips, he answered. “Um … Jimin and I have met him once before under … less than ideal circumstances.”

“Oh? Tell me more.”

“Not now,” he shook his head. “Now, we’re going to watch a movie. I’ll find some way to get Jeongguk to turn off his game.”

She pouted her lips, her little sister instincts activating. “Changing the subject isn’t fair.”

“Life isn’t fair,” he grinned roguishly. Sooyun relented, but not without rolling her eyes. After filling the sink to let the dishes soak, Seokjin motioned for her to follow him into the living room, giving her an encouraging smile when she hesitated. “They won’t hurt you. Not while I’m here.”

Lying across the sofa, Namjoon and Yoongi immediately looked up when they entered. Jimin was lying on the floor, watching while Hoseok and Jeongguk battled it out in some melee game she hadn’t seen before. From the seat closest to the door, Taehyung cast Sooyun a wary glance before he sunk further into the cushions. His expression didn’t change, but she could see the sheepish glint in his eyes.

“All right, boys!” Seokjin theatrically announced their arrival with a flourish and Sooyun jumped at his booming shout. “Movie time! You, and you,” – he pointed to Yoongi and Namjoon respectively, then to the opposite end of the couch – “go over there. Sooyun gets the front row, and first pick.” The two men obliged with only faint grumbling from Yoongi about having to move.

“One more minute, Hyung!” Hoseok begged the eldest. “I’m about to win!”

In a flash, Jeongguk lunged forward and pressed the power button on their console, effectively robbing his hyung of victory. Shrieking, Hoseok tackled him and screamed unintelligibly at the cackling boy.

Sooyun hadn’t taken a step from the doorway. The whole scene seemed like some surreal déjà vu. Watching her kidnappers banter and joke like this had somehow taken her back to spending the weekends in Jackson’s apartment. In a moment, she had returned to her friends, listening to BamBam and Jackson fight over one or the other cheating, Youngjae’s raucous laughter, and the others making room for her on their sofa. When Seokjin patted the seat beside him, she thought she saw Yugyeom in his place, a dashing smile shot her way.

She wanted to burst into tears, but held it in as she sat beside Seokjin, keeping a few inches as buffer between them. On her other side, Taehyung tried to make himself smaller.

Jimin asked what movie she wanted to watch, but she left it up to them, ignoring Seokjin’s protests. After about ten minutes of arguing, they settled for an old action flick.

With everyone’s attention on the screen, Sooyun drew her knees up to her chest and let a tear slip past her defenses. That glimpse of her old friends really hit her where it hurt, and she couldn’t help the pain in her heart. Yugyeom always had such a nice smile, and she missed the way he’d wink at her from over his shoulder at work or send her a goofy picture when he knew she had a bad day.

Her small sniffle hadn’t gone unnoticed by the boy beside her. She saw Taehyung look over at her from the corner of her eye, and quickly wiped her nose on the sleeve of her sweater. He pressed his lips together and sat back once more and she mentally thanked him for not drawing any attention towards her.

She tried to enjoy the movie, but she couldn’t get comfortable and passed the time trying not to cry anymore.

Once the movie was over, Yoongi had left the room to “finish up some work”, Jimin had fallen asleep, and Namjoon was quietly reading a novel he’d picked up after getting bored. Jeongguk, Seokjin and Hoseok were discussing the outcome of the movie, while Taehyung and Sooyun sat silently beside each other.

The man softly cleared his throat, startling Sooyun from her thoughts. She looked over sharply, surprised to meet his dark eyes staring straight back at her. “S-So,” he began and blushed when his voice creaked. “I, uh, I heard you talking to Hyung earlier – about your brother – and I wanted to tell you …” he looked to the side, almost reluctant to continue.

“Yes?” she prodded, still afraid of him, but eager to hear what he had to say about Jinyoung.

Sighing through his nose, he looked at the others then jerked his head in the direction of the door. “Follow me.”

Um, no. She wasn’t going anywhere alone with him. Subconsciously, she scooted closer towards Seokjin.

He had gotten up already before he noticed her disinclination. His eyes narrowed – in confusion, not annoyance – before realization his him. Awkwardly, he tapped Seokjin’s broad shoulder. “Hyung,” he whispered. Seokjin curiously peered at him, then Sooyun, then glared at the man, suspicious. “Can you come with us real quick?”

“Why?” he asked skeptically.

Taehyung nervously shifted in place, eyes drifting from his hyung’s face to his own feet. “I need to talk to her about something, but she won’t go without you there.”

He frowned, shrugged, and gestured for Sooyun to follow the two of them. She didn’t want to, but knew nothing would happen with him there, and she had to know what Taehyung had to tell her. If the others were curious why they were all leaving, they said nothing.

Taehyung led the both of them into the hallway, and up the stairs. Once they were in the upstairs hallway and out of earshot, he turned to face them. Neither could tell from his face if this would be good or bad news.

“Do you know your brother’s phone number?”

She was instantly taken aback, her eyes blown wide. “I – I’m sorry?”

“What’s his number?” he sighed, removing his own smartphone from his pocket.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, what?” Seokjin eyed him, shocked.

A little irritated, Taehyung opened his screen and gave his phone to Sooyun, the pin-pad open. “Call him.”

Seokjin held out his hand between them. “Wait, are you sure about this?”

“I don’t want her to keep thinking of us as monsters. This way, we can earn her trust, even just a little,” he moved around the elder and placed the phone in Sooyun’s hands. “Besides, she doesn’t know our location, so she can’t give anything away.”

She slowly took it, still a little disbelieving. She typed in Jinyoung’s number and tried not to mess it up with her shaking fingers. Hastily, she held the receiver up to her ear. Taehyung shook his head and asked her to put it on speaker.

“Just let him know you’re okay,” he whispered.

After a few heart-pounding seconds, she heard Jinyoung on the other line.

“Hello?”

“Oppa!” she gasped with tears in her eyes.

There was a moment of silence. “S-Sooyun? Is that you?”

“Oppa!” she repeated more firmly. “It’s me!”

“Are you hurt? Where are you? They didn’t do anything to you, did they?”

“I’m okay, Oppa. I’m not hurt.” She smiled tearily.

“We’re coming for you Sooyun, all of us!” he said strongly. “Jaebum-hyung and Jackson are looking for you right now!”

“I know, Oppa,” she nodded. She would have expected nothing less from her friends. Jinyoung probably called the police two minutes after she was kidnapped, and they were combing the woods as they spoke. “I’m waiting for you.”

Seokjin and Taehyung looked a little disappointed as she said this, but the younger squared his shoulders and continued staring her down. She ignored their forlorn expressions.

“It won’t be too long now, I promise,” his words began to falter. She tightly clutched the phone, sure that her voice would break if she tried to speak anymore. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” she croaked. “Oppa, just be careful. They aren’t hurting me, but I want to come home.”

Suddenly, Taehyung held out his hand, signaling her to return his phone. She turned away and said one last thing to him. “I’ll find a way out. I love you.”

Before he could respond, she hesitantly hung up and handed Taehyung his phone, hoping they hadn’t heard her final words. He looked apologetic as he placed it in his back pocket. “I’m sorry, you couldn’t speak for longer, but we cannot risk it.”

She looked down and nodded. 

He lowered his head, closed his eyes, and let out a heavy breath. “I … also need to apologize for before, for treating you that way. I should have never done something like that to you – after all, I know you were just trying to go home. I am ashamed of myself for reacting in such a way, and I hope I can make it up to you.”

Sooyun furrowed her brow and shook her head. “I won’t forgive you for that – it was a total overreaction, and I won’t get over something like that so quickly.” He winced at her sharp tone, and Seokjin smirked. “But thank you for letting me call Jinyoung-oppa. I feel a little better after speaking with him.”

Seokjin grinned excitedly. “Yay! I’m so glad you two are getting along.”

“I wouldn’t really say that –” Taehyung grimaced.

“Come on, Sooyun-ah, let’s go watch another movie before Gguk and Hobi start that stupid game again.”

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

Sooyun woke up to her stomach grumbling. She hadn’t had much of an appetite at supper, so she had gone to bed still a little hungry. The gurgling was getting to a point where she couldn’t stand it.

Begrudgingly, she got up from her bed and went over to the door. Over the past two days since the boys began treating her different, she had been given the freedom to roam the house – they still kept all the outward doors locked and warned her about the bracelet, but at least she was allowed to go get a snack if she wanted.

Quietly, she walked down the stairs and into the second-story room. Once she checked the hall was clear, she crept onto the first floor and into the large kitchen. She couldn’t remember where Seokjin had told her the snacks were kept, so she just started opening cabinets, certain she’d find something eventually. It still felt weird to be downstairs on her own, with no one looming over her shoulder, but she couldn’t say she didn’t appreciate the freedom.

She ducked down to the lower cabinets and searched, only discovering pots and pans. Her stomach rumbled again, and she groaned – even just a granola bar would do!

In one cabinet, she found a box of cleaning supplies and some maintenance tools – not what she was looking for. She sighed and went to close it quietly, but something caught her eye. Between the two bins, she saw a pair of bolt cutters that had fallen from its place, almost hidden from view. The boys had locked up the knives and scissors so she couldn’t use them to escape, but these must have slipped passed them.

Cautiously, she reached behind the bins and grabbed the tool. Her heart beat fast as she felt the weight in her hand. These were sharp enough to cut through the leather cuff. With these, she could get out of here!

A floorboard squeaked near the stairs. Sooyun dismissed it as the old house just making noise, still looking at the bolt cutters. But she nearly jumped out of her skin when a foot stepped down particularly hard, the wood letting out a louder protest than the first. Someone was awake.

She gasped and quickly shut the cupboard, stuffing the bolt cutters into the waistband of her pajamas. The sound of her heart beating was louder than the footsteps, so she wasn’t sure if the man was coming to the kitchen. What she did know, was that if anyone found her wandering around so late at night – especially with her newfound treasure – she could be punished. 

Her eyes scanned the kitchen for someplace to hide. She was too big to fit beneath the sink and they would see her if she were stupid enough to duck behind the island. With a loud yawn, the person padded ever closer, so she dove for the pantry behind the fridge. It smelled like potato chips and something pickled in there, but it was better than nothing. When the light switch in the kitchen flicked on, she held her breath. The pale-yellow glow streamed in through the crack beneath the door, illuminating the pink kitten slippers Seokjin had gifted Sooyun.

She curled up as tight as she possibly could, tucking her knees beneath her chin. Even though there wasn’t a lot of room in the cupboard, she could still fit rather comfortably. Right now, she just wanted to make herself as small as possible, leaving no room between her and the wall. The bolt cutters dug into her thigh, but she tried hard to ignore it.

The sound of someone rummaging through the fridge caught her attention. She could practically hear him breathing. Could he hear her? She clapped her hand over mouth just in case.

The refrigerator door slammed and her back straightened. Ears perked and overly sensitive to whatever noise he made, she waited for a sign the boy had returned to his room. Instead, she heard a glass be set on the counter and filled with liquid.

_Good. Maybe they’ll just drink some warm milk and be out cold._

Or so she had hoped.

She let out a muffled squeal from behind her hand when the cupboard door was thrown open ferociously.

Taehyung’s stony, chocolate-colored eyes stared right into hers. Without giving her even a second to catch her breath, he grabbed Sooyun’s elbow and yanked the girl out of the small pantry. In two steps he had her pushed up against the counter, hands on either side of her. Sooyun arched her back and tried to get as far from him as the solid barrier would allow.

“What are you doing up?” he asked, voice still gruff and deep from sleep. His hair stuck up on the back of his head and fell into his eyes, which were still struggling to stay open. He smacked his full lips and stifled a yawn; it ruined the tough persona he was trying to convey. Honestly, sleepy Taehyung was kind of cute.

 _No! Bad Sooyun! Your kidnapper is_ not _cute!_

“I just wanted a snack,” she answered, her voice a lot steadier than she thought it could be while facing down Taehyung. “I was hungry.”

He cocked his head to the side and pursed his lips. His eyes opened a little wider, pupils shrinking as they focused on her face. Slowly, the stony look she had grown accustomed to settled in. “You didn’t really eat a lot at dinner, so I thought you’d be hungry. You should have just said something.” He suddenly grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up. Sooyun gasped angrily, but it quickly turned into a shiver when her legs hit the cold, concrete counter. The freezing cold seeped through the thin sleep pants and instantly caused goose-pimples to bubble under her skin.

_When the hell did he get so bold?_

Taehyung stepped over to the fridge. He yanked open the fridge and pulled out a small container. In the little plastic tub were a few brownies that Seokjin had made the day before. Her mouth watered at the sight.

He chuckled at her eager expression. “My treat.”

The second he opened the tub, Sooyun seized the thickest brownie on top. Being the greedy eater she was, she stuffed nearly the whole dessert in her mouth with a pleased hum. Kidnapper or not, Seokjin was the best cook she had ever met. As she enjoyed the bittersweet treat, she hadn’t noticed Taehyung staring at she with a little smirk. She frowned in confusion. She couldn’t ask what he was looking at through her full mouth, so she simply cocked her head questioningly.

“You’re a messy eater,” he titled his head and gave her a sarcastic smile. “You’re such a kid.”

Sooyun glared at him, no doubt looking like an angry chipmunk with her cheeks still stuffed with brownie. He snickered. His weird behavior wouldn’t get in the way of her snack, so she ignored him and continued gobbling the brownie down. Taehyung grabbed his own and finished it in two bites.

She was tempted to lick off the crumbs that were stuck to her cold fingers, but she didn’t want to seem even more like a pig than she already did. Still, the growling in her stomach was sure to keep her up if she didn’t sate it. So, she gave into desire and snatched another treat.

Taehyung leaned his hip against the counter and sighed sleepily. He took a sip of milk from the glass he had filled earlier. His eyes never left Sooyun’s face, even when he licked the milk from his upper lip. He really was acting strange tonight. “Why were you up?”

“I was hungry,” she reiterated, giving him an annoyed look.

He chuckled quietly. “Yeah.”

“How about you?” she asked, taking another large chomp out of her brownie.

“To be honest,” he winced and sighed. “I couldn’t sleep at all. Seeing you talk with your brother today, it just made me feel so guilty.”

Sooyun frowned deeply. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, I just needed to apologize for it all.”

“You already did the other day.”

“I did, but I wanted to reiterate it, to show you I truly am remorseful.” He shocked Sooyun when he turned to her and bowed low. “I can’t apologize enough for tormenting you. I didn’t want to be this cruel person towards you, and hope we can get along while we must.”

She could see the apology in his eyes, but really didn’t want to forgive him yet. She couldn’t bring herself to accept an apology so quickly for something as damaging as being stuck in that dungeon. Shaking her head, she set down her snack. “If you feel so guilty, why don’t you just let me go?”

His eyes twinkled as he stood, and he laughed. “You just keep asking the same thing again and again – you really are a kid.”

“Shut up,” she snapped. “Stop calling me that.”

“I’m sorry,” he chuckled. “You’re really entertaining to tease. I’ve always wanted to have a little sister, so I just can’t help myself.”

She kept her glare trained on him, unrelenting and unamused.

“And to answer your question,” he said, quelling his laughter. “I know we’ve told you this before, but there are very bad people who won’t hesitate to hurt you if they found you. We’re trying to keep you safe, even if we go about it the wrong way. Sorry, but you know we can’t say more than that.” He took another long gulp of milk. “Come on, go to bed. You’ll get nightmares if you eat anymore sugar tonight.”

She groaned when he closed the container, but knew he was right. With a yawn, she leapt off the counter and began to meander out of the kitchen. “Are you going to be too?” she asked when she noticed he was still just standing there, leaning on the marble countertop.

“Yeah, soon,” he said.

Pursing her lips, she nodded and strolled up the stairs. On her way, she kept her hand on top of the bolt cutters, her heart pounding as she tried to decide what to do next.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything may seem a little fast-paced, but it's just because the story's getting long 😰

“Hold your hand out, palm up, and wait.”

Sooyun outstretched her arm away from her body, fingers shaking just a bit, and a bit of raw meat in her flat palm. Yeontan, Taehyung’s attack dog, was gnawing sloppily on one of his giant toys, before his attention turned sharply to the girl beside his master. Hoseok was distracting Mickey with tummy rubs while Taehyung instructed Sooyun to keep still. The enormous mastiff’s eyes narrowed on the treat in her hand and he stood on stocky legs.

“Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you unless I say,” Taehyung mused when he noticed how much she trembled.

“They seemed pretty eager to get at me last time,” she whispered back, a little snappily.

He chuckled. “That was because he didn’t know your scent. You’ll be fine.”

Yeontan sniffed at her fingers with a nose nearly as big as her hand. He tentatively lapped at the meat, his eyes shifting to examine hers, then zeroed in on the treat before devouring the steak with one swipe of his tongue. Sooyun flinched but didn’t move when his warm drool coated her palm.

“Ewww,” she groaned quietly. Taehyung snorted.

Swallowing the food whole, Yeontan panted happily and yapped at his master, fluffy tail whipping back and forth. His huge paws padded in place before he licked up the entirety of Sooyun’s arm, making her cringe loudly. Both Hoseok and Taehyung laughed when she tried to shake off the slobber, only for him to recoat her skin. Mickey, noticing the commotion, barked thunderously, and bounded over, to join his friend. Sooyun was quickly overtaken by the two monster dogs and slipped in the ever-growing puddle of spit beneath her.

Jeongguk and Yoongi were watching from the corner of the pin and both roared with laughter when the dogs refused to let her go. Yeontan gently pinned her under a paw and kept licking, until Sooyun was nearly screaming for someone to save her. She wasn’t scared, per se, just disgusted at this point.

Once he collected himself, Hoseok ordered the two pets back and Taehyung picked the soaked girl up from the ground.

She loudly groaned and stood with her arms outstretched. “That couldn’t have gone worse,” she bemoaned.

“Oh?” Jeongguk giggled. “They could have eaten you.”

“No, this is worse,” she whined. “I smell disgusting.”

“At least they like you,” Yoongi shrugged, shoulders still trembling with laughter.

Sighing loudly, she shook herself again. “Yay, they like me,” she said sarcastically. “It’s all I ever wanted.”

She had asked Taehyung that morning if she could help him feed the attack dogs, since she was tied of being so afraid of them. They’d thought that if she learned to take care of them, she wouldn’t have to fear their pets so much. Taehyung agreed even though his original plan was to use the dogs to intimidate Sooyun into staying. He said now that he was on his best behavior, his pet should be too.

“You wanted them to warm up to you, and they seem pretty warmed up,” said Taehyung with a grin. He had been smiling more often since the day he allowed Sooyun to talk to Jinyoung. All the boys had seemed a lot brighter now, happier, and much more comfortable for Sooyun to be around. She had begun to see them in a better light, despite the way they had brought her into this, it became clearer every day that she was here for a reason.

Besides, her brother was coming soon. She wouldn’t be here too much longer.

“I need a shower now, or this smell is never going to leave me.” Sooyun waddled to the opening of the cage, arms held out at either side of her body. Jeongguk opened the gate and laughed when she tried to swat at him with her drool-covered hand. Hoseok and Yoongi stayed behind to play with the dogs while the rest marched inside after Sooyun.

“Standing downwind is rough,” Jeongguk murmured, and she heard Taehyung giggle before hitting the younger.

She opened the door just as Seokjin yelled from the living room. Jimin had probably just beaten him in some video game. She didn’t want him to see the state she was in, so she tried to run quietly across the connecting rooms to the staircase. Only Taehyung followed her up to the next floor, while Jeongguk slipped into the living room, and he kept two feet behind her with his hands in his pockets and a cocky smirk on his lips. More furniture had accumulated in the room at the bottom of her stairs, so the boys on watch could be more comfortable when looking after her. Taehyung settled into a nice armchair and removed his phone.

“Don’t take too long,” he said offhandedly. Sooyun stuck out her tongue and hurried up the steps before he noticed.

Shedding her clothes, Sooyun threw the ruined garments into the hamper and jumped into the shower as quickly as she could. The feeling of warm water melting away the disgusting slime and dirt was incredible. She sighed happily as the steam loosened the tension in her neck and shoulders.

She scrubbed her body and hair with the rosy-scented pink soap they’d bought for her. As the water and suds slid down her body into the drain, she lowered her head and let the stream hit the back of her neck. So much stress had collected in her joints, stiffening her tired body. She hadn’t had much exercise since coming to the house, so her muscles – or lack thereof – were tightening and getting sore with each day she stayed. And the cuff on her wrist seemed to be growing tighter.

Every time the damn heavy thing clanked against something or the skin underneath grew sweaty and itchy, she remembered that this wasn’t her home. These boys had snatched her up and forced her here, even if it wasn’t that bad anymore.

Nothing had happened in days. The boys had been angels. They played video games together, watched movies, and enjoyed their meals as a group, welcoming Sooyun into their midst, but she could never shake the nervous feeling that made her shoulders rigid. She was even starting to like it here, so why was her mind still screaming for her to run? Why did she have the awful feeling that something bad was coming?

“Of course, something bad is always coming,” she scoffed to herself. She lived her life afraid of her father coming after her, so she couldn’t say this feeling was a new one. But it was worse than her daily worries – this felt rawer, as if an animal were tracking her down. The thought sent shivers racing up her spine, the cold contrasting harshly with the hot water.

She ran her fingers through her sopping hair one last time before shutting off the nozzle.

People always told her not to live in fear, but that was the only way she knew how to live. She and Jinyoung always had to look over their shoulder; they couldn’t trust strangers; they couldn’t even use their real I.D. cards. Even at their most comfortable moments, they were ready to run at a moment’s notice.

She couldn’t shake that lifestyle if she tried. And these boys wouldn’t change that. She wasn’t going to lower her guard, not even when she did her best to look relaxed. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to live her life as normally as a victim of kidnapping could. She could pretend they really did have her best interests at heart, that way she didn’t have to hate them – they seemed kind enough for her to make believe they were friends.

Yeah, she could pretend. She lived in fear, but it was no use living in hate.

After drying off, she put on another sweater, this one a creamy white with colorful stripes on the chest, and some comfortable denim trousers. To mollify Seokjin, she put on the bunny slippers he insisted she wear if she wanted to avoid a cold. They’d lent her a hairdryer and a comb, so after a few minutes of styling, she unplugged the device and walked out of the bathroom.

She stopped in her tracks beside her neatly made bed.

Yeah, she could pretend for as long as she wanted, but she couldn’t avoid the knowledge that she had a way out. 

The night she had smuggled the wire cutters into her room, she knew she had to hide them. She used the blade to slice open a small slit in her mattress where it was pressed against the headboard and stashed the tool inside. It had been days now, and she made sure every night to slide her fingers into the slit to make sure they were still there, that Bangtan hadn’t found them.

If she needed to, she could use them to cut the bracelet on her wrist and somehow get out of there. She clenched her left wrist, feeling the cuff grow tighter, and shook her head.

Taehyung would be wondering where she was by now.

In the room at the bottom of the stairs, he was almost asleep in that chair, his dark eyes struggling to stay open. He lazily looked up when she came down and smiled sleepily. “Hi,” he yawned.

“Hi,” she chuckled, swallowing the nervous lump that had been lingering in her throat, more relaxed now that the wire cutters were no longer around her. “What do you want to do now?”

He stretched his arms and groaned. “Jeongguk said you’re pretty good at Super Smash. Kind of want to see it for myself.”

She shrugged with a grin. “Only if I can be Chrom.”

“Oh,” he wrinkled his nose. “You’re one of _those_.”

Scoffing, Sooyun folded her arms over her chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Where’s the fun in sticking with just one character? Branch out! Expand your horizons!” he was still half-asleep and moving like a Muppet with no puppeteer.

“I see,” she giggled at his silly act. “I guess I can be Byleth.”

“You’re gonna be Duck Hunt.”

“In your dreams!”

Suddenly, Taehyung was on his feet, a big, very awake, smile on his face. “Last one downstairs has to be Duck Hunt!” He took off before Sooyun could process his sudden change.

“Hey! I didn’t agree to that!” she chased after him, both hollering like excited children.

Yeah, she could pretend. Pretending wasn’t that bad.

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

The early afternoon was quiet, almost tranquil.

Sooyun had fallen in love with the forest, with the sounds, the sights, even the smell of fresh dew and morning mist. Sometimes, she could even catch the scent of flowers wafting in through the open windows. It was a rather warm day, so all the windows were open while Yoongi and Sooyun washed the dishes from lunch.

“I’m glad you seem to be enjoying yourself,” the man said in his gruff but soft voice. “It’s nice.”

She smiled. Although she had originally thought he would be the hardest to connect with, Yoongi’s presence was relaxing, like a warm, quiet blanket, even from the other side of the room. He made silence comfortable.

“If you can’t beat them, right?” she joked.

He didn’t reply, just smirked happily. That was the end of the conversation, and that was fine. She liked Yoongi’s silence.

“What do you think of Taehyung?”

Sooyun sharply whipped her head toward him, a bewildered look on her face. “Um, what do you mean?”

Shrugging, he didn’t even glance at her while he continued. “You’re getting along well with him, at least that’s what Seokjin-hyung says. While you’re friendly enough to the rest of us, you seem a lot closer to him, like you’re real friends. I just need to know if this is all an act or not.” He gave her a suspicious side-eye.

She stared at the dish she was drying, her lips pursed. “I’m not sure myself. I guess … I don’t want to keep being angry while I’m here, so I thought I needed to act like friends with you instead. I don’t understand it, but the act has started to become real, and I don’t know what to do with that. And Taehyung … Taehyung seemed so scary at first, but now he reminds me so much of my old friends that I somehow feel like I’m back in my old life when I’m with him.” She smiled softly to herself.

“That’s it?”

Startled, she crooked her eyebrow at him. “Yeah? Did you want something else?”

“Nah, that’s fine,” he chuckled quietly. “It’s good to hear you think of us as friends now. I hope you know we think of you the same way. We trust you.”

“Thank you, Yoongi-ssi.”

He stopped what he was doing and tilted his head up a bit, as if he were thinking. After a moment of blank staring, he seemed resolved to something and nudged her with his elbow. “Call us ‘Oppa’.”

Hearing him say that made her giggle. “Yeah, Yoongi-oppa.”

“Why is _he_ the first one you call that?” Seokjin cried, startling Sooyun, but Yoongi didn’t move at all. The eldest stood at the opposite end of the kitchen, hands on his hips. “ _I’m_ the oldest! I should be your oppa before him!”

“Yah, she can call us all ‘Oppa’,” Yoongi replied over his shoulder. “Don’t yell, it’s hurting my head.”

“Yeah, but she said it to you first; that’s not fair!”

Jeongguk walked up behind Seokjin and grabbed a banana. “Stop whining, Hyung, you’re almost thirty.”

The older man’s handsome face froze in shock, his eyes wide as saucers. “Yah!” he followed Jeongguk out of the kitchen, the whole way scolding him for being so rude and bringing up unnecessary things.

Sooyun sighed wistfully. “Oh, how I curse the day I became used to this.”

Laughing, Yoongi gave her the final clean dish and took off his rubber gloves. “You and me both. I’m too old to keep dealing with them.”

“You’re hardly any older than my brother,” she retaliated.

He waved his hand dismissively while he waddled out of the kitchen. “Yeah, sure I am.”

Before she finished the dishes, she was greeted by yet another two guests.

Taehyung and Jimin walked in in ratty t-shirts and shorts, rubber boots and all. Taehyung’s hair was pulled back with a bandana and Sooyun struggled to tear her eyes away from his eyebrows. She still couldn’t get over how handsome all of these boys were.

“What are you two up to?” she asked, drying her hands.

“We’re going out to weed the garden and clean out the dogs’ pen,” said Jimin. He pulled open the fridge and removed two bottles of water. “Want to help?”

She shook her head. “I like those dogs, but they still scare me. I’d rather keep my distance for now.”

“You don’t want another bath?” Taehyung teased, wiggling those damn eyebrows.

Sooyun shuddered. “Get out of here.”

“Come on, come outside with us,” Jimin prodded. “It’s a nice day today! Just wear a scarf.”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun,” Taehyung grinned. Why was she feeling weak from that grin? She must be dehydrated. Shrugging her shoulders, she urged them to go on while she went to grab a cardigan and a light scarf. When she came back down, the two boys were weeding the small garden Seokjin had started in the corner of the yard, around the side of the home. They looked like regular farmers, and it made her grin. She was a city girl; this was a rare sight.

There was a sturdy Adirondack chair with a plush yellow cushion where one of the boys would sit and enjoy the sunset if they felt like it. She settled in with a sigh and had to admit the weather did feel great.

“Don’t get sunburned!” she heard Seokjin shout from the open window and laughed. 

She liked it here.

Until Jinyoung rescued her, she would milk this life as long as she could.

Sighing, she leaned back in the chair with her eyes closed, a contented smile on her lips and her muscles relaxed. The chilled breeze tousled her hair and scarf, tickling her neck. She looked over at the boys when one of them cried out sharply. Jimin had slipped and fallen on his butt. Taehyung was cackling, but still trying to help his friend back onto his feet. She giggled softly too.

A sudden change in atmosphere dropped onto her shoulders like a cold, heavy stone. She straightened up in the chair, eyes wide and alarmed.

She scanned the forest that curved around their backyard. She couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that had come over her, as if something were watching her. Something stood at the edge of the trees, staring her down with unseen eyes.

The bushes moved unnaturally in a spot on the opposite side of the house, where the dogs were kept, but they didn’t react to the shifting leaves.

Curiously, she found herself standing from the chair, something pulling her towards the woods. Her legs moved of their own accord and took her closer to the barrier and whatever was lurking in the trees. She didn’t care to see what was there, but she couldn’t control her movement. If she couldn’t stop herself, she would get shocked by the electric fence – or whatever it was – and hurt herself and the boys. She didn’t want to betray them just because of some animal that came too close.

Before she knew it, she was inches from the barrier. She felt like she could hear the dogs going wild behind her, but her focus was only on whatever was pulling her. She could just reach out, push the bush aside, and find it.

A hand landed heavily on her shoulder, squeezing tight. She gasped in pain and snapped out of it, no longer caring about what was in the woods, instead realizing she had just made a bigger problem for herself.

“T-Taehyung …” she stuttered, breaking out into a sudden sweat.

Shit. This looked bad.

She turned, ready to do her best to diffuse the situation, but by the look on his face, it would do no good.

“How could you?” he stopped himself from rumbling, closing his eyes tight.

“I-I didn’t –” she froze when she noticed more of the boys had congregated outside, startled by the dogs barking. They looked shocked, a bit confused, and a bit enraged.

“After everything –” Taehyung took a deep breathe that bordered on a growl and tugged at his midnight locks. “After everything we’ve told you – everything we’ve done! How could you?”

Sooyun was too shocked to even think of a coherent answer. She had seen the boys angry before – Seokjin, Hoseok and Jeongguk weren’t afraid to voice their anger and Yoongi and Namjoon had a way of brooding that made others quiver – but she hadn’t yet seen Taehyung blow his top.

The fury in his eyes rolled off his body in waves, paralyzing the atmosphere. She could almost see the pulsing heat radiating from him, his fingers burning where they held her shoulder. They trembled against her pulse, a testament to the amount of control it took for him to not snap her thin bones.

“Taehyung.” Seokjin’s kind voice had all but vanished, only a warning left behind.

Sooyun looked at Taehyung’s mouth when she could no longer stand the outrage in his eyes. His full lips were pulled back in a fierce grimace.

“Get in the house,” he snarled.

She shook her head and tried to reason with him. “I-I promise, I wasn’t going to –”

“GET IN THE HOUSE!” he all but screamed in her face. His face changed: His eyes turned black, his skin white and papery, and his teeth grew long and sharp. 

Sooyun gasped and tried to pull away, but his hand tightened painfully on her clavicle. Her movement just made him angrier. The monster before her snarled like a beast.

“Taehyung!” Namjoon bellowed.

He blinked twice and his face became handsome once more, every trace of the monster having vanished in an instant. The rage remained in his eyes. “You heard me.” He forcibly turned her toward the door and pushed between her shoulder blades. She nearly tripped over her feet as she stumbled into the angry group standing behind Taehyung. They parted so she could march through, humiliated and almost in tears.

It wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t planning to escape, but she couldn’t explain why she was walking into the forest. No matter what she said, they wouldn’t believe her.

She couldn’t possibly get out of this. For all they knew, nothing had been real. For all they knew, everything she had said was a lie.

She looked over her shoulder, desperate for one of them to believe her, but their expressions remained stony and fierce. Behind them, a dark shape rose from the bushes, paused for a moment to stare at her with glowing eyes, then darted off into the forest without a sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might not post every week, just because my job is getting really busy. It'll probably be every other week now :)
> 
> (And yes, I'm really into Fire Emblem 😅 Blue Lions forever!!)


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a long one, but I had fun writing it :)  
> Enjoy!

Curled up in her bed, Sooyun sighed, her teary face buried in her pillows. She wasn’t sure how many hours it had been since she was sent up to her room like a disobedient child. No one had spoken to her even as she made her way up the stairs with two of the boys in tow. They just watched her silently march, too afraid to say anything in case Taehyung were to yell at her again.

Something about the rage in his voice and the way his face seemed to morph with his anger made her skin crawl. She shivered remembering his inky black eyes and sharp teeth. She didn’t want to incur his wrath any further in case those teeth would be used to rip her to shreds.

Suddenly, there came a sharp knock at her door. Flinching, she sat up and wiped the tears from her blotchy cheeks.

Yoongi’s head popped inside.

“We’re having a few guests over tonight, so you stay quiet in here, okay.” This didn’t sound so much like a warning, but more of an order. The deep tone of his voice promised dire consequences if she tried anything. She cringed when she imagined being thrown in that dungeon again.

“G-Guests?” she asked softly.

“We have friends besides you, you know,” he teased, but she wasn’t amused. He awkwardly cleared his throat in the silence. “They’re business partners of ours. And they don’t like to be disturbed, so keep quiet.”

Sooyun nodded in resignation, eyes looking down at her hands folded in her lap. Of course, they worked in the underground – they were bound to have some shady connections. She wouldn’t dare interfere with such a dangerous meeting.

Then, a bright thought sparked in the back of her mind like a lamp switching on. With any luck, her sudden realization did not shine through her eyes, because no one was more perceptive than Yoongi. To curb her feelings from being evident to his scrutinizing gaze, Sooyun chewed on her bottom lip and prayed he took it as nervousness.

Someone must have been looking out for her because the little frown tugging at his mouth said that he only saw fear, not hope. “I don’t want to frighten you, Sooyun, but just keep in mind that they aren’t as tolerant as we are. It’s for your own good that they don’t know you’re here.”

With one last pointed look, he shut the door.

The click of the heavy bolt didn’t sound as damning as it always had before, because she had finally found her chance. If Bangtan was entertaining guests – important guests by the sound of it – then they would be distracted. No one would be watching her. She could feel the thrum of excitement in her chest, a little lightheaded at the sudden prospect of freedom. 

_Freedom._

The word sent a shudder of delight down her spine but then made her frown quizzically, the contradiction in her mind making everything feel a bit … wrong.

Yesterday, she wouldn’t have been so keen to escape – she was finally warming up to the boys and enjoyed their company more than she ever thought she would. Seokjin’s kindness and Taehyung’s playfulness had been the catalysts that made her actually feel things for these boys and think that, maybe, they weren’t so bad. They weren’t just scary gangsters covered in tattoos and piercings that would render her grandmother catatonic; they were also loud, silly boys that made her laugh and act in a childish way that she thought she couldn’t anymore.

Sooyun cared about them, despite the rude start, especially the man with that beautiful, boxy smile. His playful teasing and voice that reached down deeper than the lithosphere made her feel things that she shouldn’t have, made her want to be protected and break her strong exterior. For once, she thought she didn’t have to be the mature one, the brave one and she could finally relax in the safety of another’s arms that were so much sturdier than her own. She started trusting them.

But he broke that trust.

The way he had screamed at her, frightened her, and the cruelty in his eyes – everything she thought she had with the boys was shattered by his sharp words. She couldn’t look at them anymore or else she would see the monsters they tried to pretend they weren’t. Any kindness only reminded her of what they had done; regardless of any friendliness they might have shown, they had kidnapped her, locked her up, and treated her like a prisoner. She was nothing to them, and escape meant everything to her.

To her surprise, her eyes were damp and stinging a little from more unshed tears. Pathetic.

She shouldn’t feel so conflicted about this – they were kidnappers! They were gangsters and sadistic monsters! They weren’t her friends, no matter how much she wished they could be. No matter how much she wanted to trust Taehyung.

Sooyun shook her head and pushed herself to stand. No more wasting time. Forgetting everything that would give her any ideas of turning back, she quickly slinked over to one of the large windows and peered out into the front driveway – the boys weren’t anywhere in sight, and she hoped that they had forgotten to check the secondary lock since it was last open a few days back to air out the room. If they had, she could make a rope from the numerous bedsheets and sweaters they’d thoughtlessly provided. She smiled when she felt the first lock click and tentatively pressed her hand against the glass. The feeling as it swung gently open nearly made her cry – everything was falling into place so perfectly that it just couldn’t be real.

She fit the window back into the sill and locked the first clasp. Once it was secure, she scrambled quietly to her bed and reached her hand down between the mattress and headboard, fingers tingling with nervous excitement. When her hand slipped into the tiny slit, she had the horrible thought that the boys could have gone snooping in her room and somehow found her hidden treasure. Then again, if they _had_ found it, Sooyun probably wouldn’t be alive. Relief flooded her chest when her fingertip suddenly brushed up against the rubber handles.

She withdrew the clippers from the hiding spot, gazing down at the old blades that glowed in the soft light of her bedside lamp. This seemingly mundane tool was her salvation.

With a deep breath and a prayer, Sooyun wiggled the wire cutters into the spot between her wrist and the cuff. She winced when the cold blade pressed sharply against her skin. Holding a rusted, old blade to such an important vein was a less-than-ideal situation, but she had to risk it. And, maybe, if she didn’t make it out of the house, she would die of tetanus.

Every cloud has a silver lining, right?

She got to work, sawing at the alarmingly tough leather. No matter how long she had worn this bracelet, the weight and strength of it had never ceased to surprise. If she did make it through the leather, she was going to have to deal with the electrical wire that was undoubtably inside next. Hopefully, if the wire were live, she wouldn’t fry her brains. She really didn’t want to know if Yeontan and Mickey liked their food crispy.

After about five minutes of aggressive pumping the scissored blades with minimal progress, she felt discouraged. If it took this long to only cut so much, the boys might end their meeting before she was anywhere near finishing. A part of her wondered if she should just give up and find another way, but she knew she wouldn’t be getting another chance anytime soon. If she was going to do this, she needed to do it now. So, she doubled her effort and finally cut through the leather and caught onto what felt like a wire.

She almost let out a quiet cry of joy when a loud noise came through the floorboards. Bangtan was laughing downstairs, Seokjin’s obnoxious squeak forcing her to wonder if it was his joke they were enjoying.

 _Good,_ she breathed softly. _They should still be preoccupied._

She pushed up hard with the blades and pulled her cuffed wrist down as hard as she could. With a few heavy tugs and saws, the wire snapped. Luckily, it was much easier to break than that stupidly tough leather.

Suddenly, a horrible thought shot into her mind like a slingshot: The window, the wire cutters, the distraction – she considered for a moment that this could have been a set-up all along. Had they purposely let her find the tool? Had they left the window unlocked just to tease her, and now they were faking entertaining a guest, so she would feel safe? They may have just wanted to catch her in the act.

She shook the thought away and continued her work. Even if this were a set-up, she would take every chance she was given.

She was going home again, home to her brother and friends. She could be sleeping in her own bed by tomorrow and hugging her favorite stuffed panda close as she drifted off. Of course, she probably couldn’t go back to her job at Def Soul ever again and a part of her didn’t care. Even if she lost such an amazing job, if would be worth it to get out of this damn house.

Sweat dripped from her forehead, and her arms were losing their strength. For how long had she been doing this? For how long would they stay distracted?

The thought of the men bursting in and catching her almost made Sooyun wish she had never done it, but there was no turning back now.

She wasn’t paying much attention when the knife finally sliced through the last bit of the bracelet.

Finally, finally! It broke! The split piece of leather and metal broke its hold around her wrist. The semi-tight squeeze was gone after so long.

Too caught up in her relief and the euphoria of the cold air hitting that strip of skin around her wrist, she didn’t notice the cuff slipping off the bed, hitting the ground with a solid _thud!_ The heavy sound was deafening in the silence. It was the toll of the death bell, a banshee’s scream, the swish of the executioner’s blade.

She covered her mouth, suddenly afraid that they could hear her breathing too. She listened closely, straining her ears to pick up even a stray word or cough. Everything was eerily quiet. Nothing in the house moved for what seemed like hours, like everything had just gone dead. No rustle of curtains or faint words from downstairs. It was just deafening, suffocating silence.

Footsteps.

She gasped and felt every muscle in her body tense up. They were already on the second floor and coming closer, heavy and determined – Jeongguk? Namjoon? Please, not Namjoon. The leader would probably kill her if he saw what she had done.

She snatched the cuff from the floor and threaded it around her wrist as she threw the covers up to her chin and stuffed the tool beneath her pillow. Hopefully she looked even a tiny bit convincing, and not at all as obvious as she usually was. Even if she wasn’t the best actor, she knew, from living with her dad, how to fake sleep.

The heavy bolt unlatched. The door squeaked open. Sooyun held her breath.

“We told you to be quiet,” Taehyung’s deep voice rumbled.

She tensed. She wasn’t expecting him.

She would have taken Namjoon over him.

“What did you drop?” he asked, his footsteps walking around her room, trying to find something that could have made that noise.

Shoot, she didn’t even think about that. She should have knocked something over to make it believable.

“Well?”

“I-I fell off the bed,” she stuttered.

He laughed softly, the deep timbre oddly soothing. “Are you serious? What are you, four?”

Thank God he didn’t consider that she would have made a _much_ louder noise if she had actually fallen. She rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, okay? Just tell them it was your dog or something and go away.”

Taehyung hummed in disapproval. “You think they’d believe that? Tan-ah’s way too big to fit up here. If you do it again, they’ll come up here to check for themselves and you don’t want that to happen, trust me.”

Her throat tightened in sudden fear. The bracelet slipped a little when she twitched, and her other hand shot up to keep it in place. For the entire exchange, she hadn’t moved her body or her head to face him, so he hopefully hadn’t noticed anything. “W-What do they do?”

“Well, they have their hands in a little bit of everything,” he said flippantly. “Everything the underground has to offer, at least. Very bad things.”

The thought made her sick. She decided she didn’t want to know anymore. More than that, though, there was a coppery smell coming from him, one that she couldn’t quite place. Where had she smelled it before?

He suddenly laughed, the noise seeming entirely inappropriate for this kind of conversation. “I’m joking! They’re just, erm, accountants, nothing scary. You’re too gullible.”

A steady heat grew in her cheeks and she wished she could berate him for tricking her about something so serious. “That wasn’t funny,” she complained.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. We just wanted to scare you a little bit after today,” his voice darkened as he spoke, as if he had forgotten why she was stuck up here in the first place. The atmosphere thickened into a heavy awkwardness. “We’ll be up later to check on you, so try and get some sleep, okay? Tomorrow, we’ll talk everything over.”

She flinched when his footsteps didn’t head towards the door. “Ah, Jiminie,” he sighed, suddenly right by the window, as if he could read Sooyun’s thoughts. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest when she saw him fiddling with the latch and a key in his pocket. _Oh, please no –_ “He forgot to lock this again. Aish! I need to have a talk with him. We can’t have this blowing open and giving you a cold.”

Sooyun drew the covers closer to her chin. No, no, no! Now what was she supposed to do? That was her only way out of this place! Without any means of escape, the boys were sure to find her without the bracelet. The thought of what they would do to her made her want to crawl into a hole and die before they had the chance to kill her. The loose leather slid against her wrist when she shifted in the sheets, feeling rough as it rubbed her sensitive skin.

“Aish,” Taehyung sighed again, stepping closer to the bed. She still refused to look at him, both because she was angry from his teasing and because she didn’t want him to see how panicked she was. The mattress sunk near her head when he sat down, every muscle in her body tensing up. “Are you still mad at me?” he asked, in a soft voice.

She didn’t answer. Of course, she was still angry! He had blown his top without even listening to her explanation! She wasn’t going to run away! What really hurt, though, was that she thought she was finally getting closer to him and then he had to go and scream at her as if she were a kid and it made her feel both furious and foolish. Maybe she should just rip off the cuff and smack him across the face with the rusted wire cutters.

Let him get tetanus – make him look like a horrifying Sir Charles Bell painting.

He frowned and put a hand on her head. She wanted to swat his hand away, but that would ruin her last promise of freedom. “You know I was scared, and I had to do that to protect you, right? I’m sorry if it hurt you.”

No, she didn’t want to give herself away any further. “Just go away.”

“What’s the magic word?”

She rolled her eyes, finally looking at him. “ _Please_.”

The large hand on her head ruffled her hair.

“Just go to sleep,” he said with a teasing lilt in his voice. The tone almost made her feel bad about trying to break out. Almost. He left the room with a final look back. “I’ll have someone bring you up something to eat, okay?”

She didn’t answer. She didn’t want food. Food meant that someone else was going to come check on her and if it was Seokjin or Jimin, they would probably stay to eat with her and that would end badly for everyone – mostly her.

An image flickered in your mind’s eye of Seokjin coming in all sweet with a plate of treats for her, only to have her sit up and the bracelet slip. He’d call the others and they’d give her a new cuff – probably a shock collar – and lock her down in the basement for good this time.

They kept claiming that they only wanted to keep Sooyun safe, but how the hell was that dungeon any safer? She shuddered at the memory of that skeletal hand reaching for her, that voice begging to take Sooyun to _her_. She would do everything in her power never to meet _her_ , whoever _she_ was.

She had been worrying too hard to have heard Taehyung close and lock the door. Sighing, she turned and stared at the heavy, oaken door, the foreboding size making her feel like a tiny mouse trapped in her cage. No window to crawl out of, a locked door in your way. Screwed was not a strong enough word to describe her predicament.

“What am I going to do?” she whispered in despair. The bracelet was broken and there was no way to reattach it. Whoever came to check on her was going to find out and she was going back to the dungeon. She groaned and shoved her face into your pillow.

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

“Oh, Sooyun-ah ~”

She tensed and clenched her fists in her covers.

“Taehyung sent me to get you some food, but I thought you’d like to eat downstairs instead of in your bed,” Seokjin said kindly. She turned in her bed and saw him smiling in the doorway, eyes sweet. “Come on, now,” he said patiently. Sooyun swallowed thickly, said a quick prayer, and slowly threw off her covers and shuffled through the doorway, Seokjin following closely behind. It didn’t occur to the girl that she shouldn’t let him walk behind her, considering it would be easier to hide the broken bracelet if he had his back to her. She further dug her hand into her sweater pocket.

Sooyun thanked God she had the foresight to pin the bracelet together with a small hairclip Seokjin had provided after Taehyung had visited. Even if it wasn’t too stable, it did its job. The sleeve of her sweater barely covered it, but if she didn’t take her hand out of her pocket, no one should have been able to notice.

He placed a hand on her shoulder in a gentle manner that was meant to be comforting, but it felt heavy and foreboding. At any moment, his hand could jostle her arm, and the bracelet could crash to the floor, along with any hope of freedom. Sweat slicked her brow from the very thought. Never had she been in such a precarious or delicate situation – not even while tattooing an exceptionally detailed design – one wrong move, one hair out of line, and her plan and effort would be all for naught.

When she took a deep, anxious breath, she noticed he had the same scent on him as Taehyung had. Maybe a little earthier, as if he had been out in the woods. What was this? Was it stronger now that she was downstairs?

“What do you want to eat?” he asked in a friendly voice, making her stiffen.

“Food,” Sooyun said numbly, too caught up in her own mind to process what he had asked.

Luckily, he laughed. “Wow, if you’re so tired, I’ll warm you up some tea. It will knock you right out.”

She nodded, still not entirely focused on him. She hadn’t even noticed they had made it to the stairs. Holding onto the handrail with her head ducked and knuckles clenched, she carefully walked down. Not until her chest started hurting, had she realized she was holding in her breath. Seokjin trotted lightly behind her, casually humming. His voice was sweet, but it only made the girl tense up even more. He was so close.

Once the two reached the bottom of the stairs, Seokjin steered her towards the kitchen with his strong hand which still clutched her shoulder. Sooyun followed, unwilling to fight against a gangster who could probably snap her neck with a flick of his wrist – which didn’t sound that bad anymore, since her life was already in the dumps.

She dragged her bare feet on the floor, the chunky bracelet strapped so precariously around her wrist seemed to add fifteen pounds to her body, making her limbs feel weighty and numb. Seokjin assumed she was just exhausted, but “Eomma” wouldn’t let her go to sleep with an empty stomach. A part of her wished he would let her starve, only to make the others feel guilty for what they had done to her. Maybe, seeing her skinny and pitiful would appeal to their human sides and they would let her go.

Then again, a hungry Sooyun was a miserable Sooyun.

“I’ll make you some kimchi jjigae since I know you love it,” Seokjin said gently. “There’s some leftover from the other day, but I can make some fresh if you’d like?”

She shook her head, not daring to open her mouth. If she spoke, she felt like her voice would crack and a confession would tumble out of her mouth like a slinky down the stairs.

“Okay, I’ll just warm it up for you, then,” he smiled. A smile of her own teased her lips when he grabbed his apron immediately upon entering the kitchen, even though he was only going to heat up the stew. He continued humming, pulling the leftover kimchi jjigae from the refrigerator.

Sooyun craned her neck and caught sight of the bathroom door down the short hall, which was left open a crack. An idea was birthed in her mind. She knew for a fact that the windows in the bathroom were very rarely closed or locked, considering seven boys sharing a toilet was bound to smell like hell. A brightness lit up her eyes and the corner of her lips twitched.

“Um, Seokjin-oppa?” she asked meekly while trying to mask the excitement in her veins as tiredness. “I’m going to use the bathroom really quick.”

He didn’t give her even a tilt of his head, just hummed softly and stirred the bowl of stew, “Okay, just be quick or your food will get cold again.”

She nodded her head and did her best not to bolt towards the room off the kitchen. Quietly, her shut the door and turned the lock. A wave of relief passed over her at the privacy and possible promise of freedom waiting for her in this bathroom. If she managed this, she’d be gone! She’d be lost in the woods, but that was much better than being trapped in this house.

This wasn’t the time for thinking, though – she had to act fast. She rushed to the window that was just low enough for her chin to reach above the sill. It was just by the toilet and a basket of manga, providing her with a stepping stool to aid her escape. She could peer out of the glass to see the side of the backyard and the woods hardly fifteen feet away. If she were able to jump out, she would hopefully be in the forest before anyone even saw her running.

The window’s latch was higher off the ground, just in reach of her fingertips, but to her incredible luck, it was unlocked! She almost broke down crying and she continued pressing forward. With a deep breath, she took hold of the bottom of the window and slowly began pushing it up. She winced with her entire body when it emitted a high-pitched creak.

She had to do this fast or Seokjin would surely get the idea of what she was doing. But that also meant that she wouldn’t have as much time to escape the yard as she thought. Oh well, she was confident in her speed.

Just to be on the safe side, Sooyun unclipped the bracelet and gently removed it from her sweaty wrist. She bid a bitter good riddance to the item and silently placed it in the toilet like the piece of crap it was. That in itself felt like a tiny victory.

Without the bracelet, she was no longer under their control. No one could stop her from running away and finding her way back home to safety and security. With Jaebum and Jackson always with her, there was no way Bangtan would come after her again. With good luck, she’d never see them again in her life.

She grunted softly as she shut the toilet lid and climbed atop it. Her fingers slipped beneath the small crack she had already made, and she sucked in a deep breath, prepared to run for it the moment the hole was wide enough.

A sudden knock at the door almost had her tumbling off the toilet seat. “Sooyun?” Seokjin called from the other side. “Is everything okay?”

No, no. She whimpered nervously and gripped the window tighter with her fingers. If she dared to answer him, he would hear the anxious quiver in her voice and realize that everything was not okay. 

“Sooyun,” he said more sternly. “Answer me.”

When she stayed silent, he began jiggling the doorknob. Her heart shot up into her throat and she turned back to the window, pushing it open with a more obnoxious groan. Seokjin began banging louder, calling for both Sooyun and his gang. The window was much harder to open than she thought it would be, only moving a few centimeters with every forceful shove she gave, made even harder since her arms were already sore from breaking through the cuff.

She heard footsteps pounding on the second floor and thundering down the stairs, the men shouting and questioning the eldest with panic in their voices. Taehyung’s booming voice was the loudest among them, obviously shoving his way to the door. His large fist bashed against the wood so hard that it creaked beneath his strength. “Sooyun,” he roared deeply. “Let us in!”

With a final shove, the widow was open wide enough for Sooyun to jump through. The windowsill reached just above her waist while standing on the toilet, so she still had some trouble bringing her legs up to leap out onto the grassy yard.

“She’s gone out the window,” Yoongi reasoned. “Gguk, go and stop her.”

No! She was so, so close!

Gathering all the strength and adrenaline that was pulsing through her body, she lifted herself and managed to get a leg-up on the windowsill. She pulled herself up and pushed her other leg through. Just as she succeeded the feat, someone finally broke down the door with a loud _BANG_ and a flash of strange, blue light. Her eyes met Namjoon’s and Taehyung’s shocked faces before she let go of the sill. The short fall had her on her bare feet and running in mere seconds.

A pure feeling of euphoria flooded her as she ran but was squashed when Jeongguk came barreling towards her from the far side of the yard. He was much faster that she was – it would only take him seconds to overtake her. He pumped his thick thighs faster than humanly possible and stretched out his hand, fingertips almost brushing her hair. That gave Sooyun a burst of energy that had her moving more swiftly than ever before, launching herself out of his reach.

“Sooyun! The bracelet!” Jimin shouted. The rest of them must have been on her tail as well now. “You’ll get hurt!”

“Shit! Jeongguk, grab her!” screeched Seokjin.

A small smirk of satisfaction crossed Sooyun’s face, pleased with her own cleverness. This time, there was nothing stopping her from escaping, absolutely nothing in her way.

The moment her foot hit the ground on the other side of the border, she felt a rush of fear.

What now?

She had made it out of their territory, but they could easily cross over too. They were stronger, faster and knew these woods better than her – how was she supposed to outrun them, much less find shelter? It was amazing she even got this far.

“How did she –”

“Do you really think that’s important right now, Jeongguk?!” Taehyung scolded the younger. “Just grab her!”

Sooyun couldn’t stop even if she had tried at this point, much less allow any of them to touch her. Of course, her legs and lungs were burning with the exertion, but that still wasn’t enough to slow her down – she was getting out of there tonight, no matter what.

••──────────⋅☾••●••☽⋅──────────••

She’d lost them. Somehow, she had lost them all. Her heart was beating in her chest like a drum when she finally felt safe enough to slow down. She could feel it in her head and hear it even above all the birds and insects singing in the night. Her ears searched for any sound of the boys’ footsteps on her tail, but there was nothing but the sound of nature.

Taking a deep breath, she leaned against a large pine and let her head fall back against it. With a long, exhausted sigh, she slid gently to the leaf-covered ground.

She had no idea what to do with herself now. She was out but didn’t know where she was supposed to go – she was blind in the gigantic maze of trees and freezing foliage. It was still deep in autumn, and she had neither shoes nor a coat. If she didn’t come across someone soon, she would freeze to death out here. Maybe she should have thought this through more thoroughly …

Suddenly, she heard something coming closer. She quickly stood and bent her knees, ready to run at a moment’s notice. As she listened, she realized that it wasn’t footsteps coming toward her; it sounded like something was gliding along the forest floor, soft and almost ethereal, as if whatever it was, it had no legs. She turned her ear toward the noise and held her breath to hear it more clearly. It was like someone was sledding along the fallen leaves.

It didn’t make a straight line for her, instead, it circled her slowly. As a tiger did to its prey, it was stalking her instead of making an outright attack. Her heartbeat grew louder with every moment it toyed with her. Two glowing eyes, just like those she had seen in the woods earlier that day, stared at her, unblinking. They crinkled at the bottom like whatever it was, it was smiling at her fear.

This didn’t feel right. This thing wasn’t human.

“Sooyun-ah!”

She startled at the loud voice behind her, and whatever was stalking her ran off to her right. Jeongguk sounded like he was close, almost right behind her. Without thinking, she ran ahead and forgot about the glowing eyes. She sprinted agilely between trees and bushes, leaping over a fallen branch, and avoiding any sharp rocks that could damage her bare feet.

The heavy boots the boys wore were booming and obnoxious in the night, giving her a pretty good idea of where they were. When she was a fair distance from them, she veered left and the steps grew further away. Maybe forgoing shoes had been a good idea after all.

Foolishly, she looked behind her, and just as she did, her foot hit something large and solid that sent her rolling on the forest floor. Sticks and roots tore at her skin as she tumbled, sure to draw blood, but she could feel no pain through the adrenaline in her veins.

She lifted her head from the dirt and leaves to see the obstacle she had struck. It was a misshapen pile shielded by a green tarp that had shifted when she tripped over it. Frowning, Sooyun noticed an oblong object protruding from the pile that looked like a lump of brown leather. The smell from earlier was strong here, much stronger than it had been in the home. Her curiosity peaked and she shuffled closer to the pile to study the item closer. A moment too late, she realized with horror that it was a blocky, leather shoe … still being worn on someone’s foot. 

A sock peeked out from the shoe, eventually receding beneath the tarp again. There was something sinister hidden here. Sooyun couldn’t help but wonder if it were just her imagination or not, so – against her better judgement – she took hold of the covering and flicked it away. Underneath the tarp was a something she should have only seen in a horror movie, looking up at her from her feet.

She could see the dark blood staining the ground and dripping from the tarp, along with something that looked grotesquely like organs spilling from a person’s open, hollow chest. A pale face lay sideways against the leafy ground, blank eyes staring straight back into hers with a glassy stare. Blood was smeared across the sunken cheeks and spilling from the bulging eye-sockets.

The most frightening detail was the bloody human heart which lay beside it with a large stab-wound through the center.

Everything seemed to shift and spin, turning her stomach upside down and twisting her gut. She tried to fight back the bile that was crawling up her throat. Dry heaving, Sooyun backed away until her back hit a tree. Everything in her brain shut off suddenly except for one, singular thought. That man was dead. Some – Someone killed him! And she knew who.

The smell on Taehyung and Seokjin was this man’s blood – while they had told her they were entertaining, they had murdered this man, eviscerated him! Her head grew heavy and fuzzy. They weren’t just kidnappers; they were murderers too! Fear had never felt so palpable. She could feel it gripping her stomach and trying to rip through the flesh, just like that poor man on the ground.

Sooyun’s mind was stuck on repeat: _Get out of here! Get out of here! Get out! Now! Get out of here before they find you!_

“Sooyun!”

Too late.

She didn’t even turn around when the men approached her, too terrified of the devastated corpse lying at her feet. 

“Shit,” Jimin muttered bluntly.

“Sooyun, don’t look –”

She interrupted Jeongguk with a garbled scream. “No!” she shrieked, grabbing a large branch that had fallen from the tree and rounding on them with a heavy swing. “Stay away!”

“Sooyun-ah!” Jeongguk cried out in concern when the branch nearly hit his head. “Please! We aren’t going to hurt you!”

“You killed him!” she gasped, still heaving and crying. “You’re murderers!”

“You don’t understand!” Jimin tried to reason, but she was having none of it.

She yelled wildly and waved her weapon around with abandon. She held them back, tears streaming down her red cheeks and hands shaking. “Stay away from me, monsters!”

“We don’t want to hurt you, Sooyun,” Jeongguk calmly said with a tender look in his eyes. He smiled softly and reached out his hand. “Just, come back with us.”

For a moment, his big eyes threatened to draw her back into the lies and false sense of security. They were comfortable, but deadly. She lowered the branch slowly, her mind telling her to trust him, despite it all.

Suddenly, the low, foreboding howls of Mickey and Yeontan pierced the night, chilling the air. She swallowed thickly and looked at the two men inching closer. With a sharp cry, she swung the branch and it connected with the younger man’s shoulder, knocking him flat. While he struggled to his feet, she had already taken off yet again, desperate for escape.

No other sound except for the pounding of footsteps on her tail. No one was coming to save her from these horrors. Tears began slipping from her eyes. She had never felt so alone or afraid.

Her sobs and foggy eyesight made running even harder. Not only could she no longer see where she was going, but the pain from the cuts on her arms and the bottom of her feet were finally breaking through the adrenaline. She wondered if it were even worth it to continue running. No doubt they would catch her before she found a place to hide, and she would probably succumb to her pain and the cold in mere minutes.

It was worthless.

Why not just let them kill her?

“Sooyun!”

This voice did not belong to Bangtan, but she knew it well.

“J-Jackson?” Sooyun gasped, looking up. A group of three appeared running towards her. She thought for a moment that Bangtan had split up, but then she saw the face of the man in front – it was Yugyeom.

“ _Yugyeom!_ ” she screamed with tears of relief running from her chin like rivers. She flew into his arms without even realizing how close she was to him. None of the men stopped for a second, Yugyeom instantly turning on his heel without tripping over, even with the girl in his arms.

“Yah!” Taehyung’s distinct voice was too close for comfort.

Sooyun flinched and curled her fingers into Yugyeom’s shirt. The comforting feeling of his arms around her was one she had long forgotten.

“We got you,” he said through heavy pants, and those three words were more soothing than anything she’d ever heard before.

But they weren’t safe yet. Not even close.


End file.
